Kunjudo

Kunjudo was founded in October 1893 (Meiji 26) on Awaji Island, when Heiichiro Fukunaga opened it as Fukunaga Senkoten — a starting point the company still dates its history from, more than 130 years on. Awaji supplies the large majority of Japan's incense, and Kunjudo is one of the island's established manufacturers, run today from Taga in Awaji City.

The house's clearest claim to a distinct place in that crowded field is technical: in 1975 it developed what it presents as the world's first low-smoke incense, a formulation aimed at incense burned in enclosed modern rooms rather than open temple halls. It later extended that innovation streak with HA KO, an incense line made from washi paper rather than the usual wood-powder paste, sold through its own dedicated site.

Kunjudo pairs that manufacturing history with public-facing craft: a showroom stocking more than 100 fragrance products, plus factory tours and hands-on incense- and sachet-making sessions open to visitors, turning an Awaji Island production site into a place people can watch and try the process themselves rather than just buy the result.