仏教伝来とともに香が中国から日本に伝えられました。はじめは仏前に用いられましたが、少しずつ香を独立して楽しむようになり、室町時代の中期に発展し、１つの独立した芸術としてその様式が確立しました。香道では、香木を炊いてその香りを観賞する、香の優劣を判定して遊ぶ、幾種類かの香を炊いて１つのテーマを表現する、などがあります。
Kodo (Incense ceremony)
Incense, along with Buddhism, was introduced into Japan from China(538). At first,it was used in front of Buddhist statues, but it gradually came to be enjoyed independently. It developed in the middle of the Muromachi Period(1333-1573), and the style of using incense as an independent art was developed.
With Kodo there are several approaches. One can burn aromatic wood and appreciate the fragrance, play a game by judging the relative quality of two linds of incense, or express a theme common to the fragrances of several kinds of burning incense.
