Kodo literally means “way of the fragrance.” Along with Sado (tea ceremony) and kado or Ikebana (flower arrangment), it is one of the three major classical arts that any woman of refinement was expected to learn. Kodo is perhaps the least well-known of the three, but these days its modern cousin, aromatherapy, is all the rage. When practicing kodo, a mica plate is placed on top of smouldering coals and the incense or fragrant wood is placed on the plate. So the wood is not actually burned, but gives off its fragrance in a subtle way. It may seem to be all about the sense of smell, but the secret of Kodo is in “listening.” The participants don’t “smell” (the Japanese verb ‘kagu’) the incense or fragrant wood, but rather “listen” (kiku) to it, opening up not so much their nasal passages as their heart and spirit. Modern western psychologists and therapists know about the power of the sense of smell, how a smell can instantly transport a person back to a place from their childhood. In Japan, the burning of incense and prizing of rare scented wood has been transporting people to a different spiritual plane for many centuries. The fragrances of kodo are divided into rikkoku gomi (lit. six countries, five tastes). The rikkoku are six kinds of fragrant wood: kyara, rakoku, manaka, manaban, sumatora, and sasora. The gomi are the tastes of amai (sweet), nigai (bitter), karai (spicy hot), suppai (sour), shio karai (salty). Becoming able to break down a given fragrance into these different elements takes years of experience and a very refined sense of smell.