Kōdō (Way of Incense) and Baieidō (The Oldest Maker of Incense In Japan)

Baieidō （Japanese language: 梅栄堂） is a Japanese incense company established in 1657, located in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture.

In 1657, a man changed his name to "Jinkōya Sakubei" and started to sell incense. He named his store "Jinsaku" as an abbreviation of his name. In the Meiji period (1868–1912), the store name was changed from "Jinsaku" to "Nakata Baieidō".

The name "Baieidō" is derived from the three characters Bai, Ei, and Dō.

• Bai means "Plum Tree"
• Ei means "Prosperity"
• Dō means "Shrine or Store"

Their staple incense is "Kōbunboku" （好文木）.  Expression of the Plum Tree.


Kōdō (香道, "Way of Incense") is the Japanese art of appreciating incense, and involves using incense within a structure of codified conduct. Kōdō includes all aspects of the incense process, from the tools (香道具 kōdōgu) – which, much like tools of the tea ceremony, are valued as high art – to activities such the incense-comparing games kumikō (組香) and genjikō (源氏香). Kōdō is counted as one of the three classical Japanese arts of refinement (kadō, or ikebana for flower arrangement, kōdō for incense, and chadō for tea and the tea ceremony), but it is relatively unknown among modern Japanese people.