Yamadamatsu Kogiten, a long-established aromatic wood store dating back to the Edo period, is located near the Kyoto Imperial Palace. The store is in the pharmaceutical business and specializes in herbal medicines, especially fragrant woods, and handles the entire process from direct purchase, importation, identification, and commercialization. In addition to selling a variety of fragrances, the store also offers an experience where you can experience the deep fragrance of fragrant woods with your heart and mind, and create your own original fragrance.
The hotel staff at The Gate Hotel Kyoto Takasegawa also participated in the experience where they mixed several types of fragrant woods to create a smell bag of their own choice!
About Yamadamatsu Kogiten
Yamadamatsu Kogiten started out in the pharmaceutical business during the Kyoho period in the Edo period (1603-1868), and later shifted its focus to fragrances from the Meiwa to Kansei periods, specializing in aromatic woods and aromatic medicines (raw materials for incense). Today, as an aromatic wood business, our company motto is to pass on the Japanese aroma culture that has continued since the Heian period (794-1185) in the place where it originated and developed, while at the same time continuing the medicinal seed business (Koumatsuya).
From the website of Yamadamatsu Kogiten
Workshops Avaliable
At Yamadamatsu Kogiten, there are two main types of courses: the “listening course” and the “incense preparation course.
Monko Listening to Incense Course
In this course, visitors can experience the profound fragrance of fragrant woods and the world of kodo, the art of incense making, which has been practiced since the Muromachi period (1333-1573). In the Kumiko course, visitors can enjoy the fragrance of precious aromatic woods such as kyara and agarwood by listening to the fragrance and trying to guess it in a game of “Kumiko”.
Fee: 2,000 yen Time: approx. 50 minutes *No new reservations will be accepted during the COVID emergency declaration period.
Incense Preparation Course
This is an experience to create your own original fragrance using natural incense ingredients. There are two types of experiences available: making a fragrance bag and making incense. For safety reasons, children 4 years old and older are allowed to participate in the incense preparation experience.
Fee: 2,000 yen Time: approx. 50 minutes *No new reservations will be accepted during the COVID emergency declaration period.
SHOP DATA
Yamadamatsu Kogiten Kyoto Main Store
| Address | 164 Kankaiyu Koji-cho, Muromachi-dori Shimotachiuri Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto City, Kyoto 602-8014, Japan |
| TEL | 075-441-1123 |
| Business hours | Regular hours: 10:00 – 17:30 (shortened hours from 10:30 – 17:00 for the time being) |
| Regular holiday | Year-end and New Year holidays, Bon holidays |
*Please contact the store directly for the latest information on business hours, holidays, etc.
