Fragrance house

Nippon Kodo

Nippon Kodo’s incense tradition traces to Koju, established in Kyoto in 1575, whose lineage supplied incense to Japan’s Imperial Court. The modern company began as the Tokyo branch of Osaka incense maker Kokando and became independent in 1942 under Masanori Konaka. In 1947, Konaka acquired the trademark, manufacturing, and sales rights for Mainichi-Koh and Hana-no-Hana. Nippon Kodo combines incense-making with the preservation and international presentation of Japanese incense culture, including Kodo, the formalized art of appreciating fragrance. Its first public Kodo performance took place at United Nations headquarters in New York in 1982. The company later developed an international fragrance group through its partnership with ESTEBAN, which became a subsidiary in 1996, and the addition of GENIECO in 1999. Nippon Kodo Holdings was established in 2011, and in 2022 the group acquired Tierra Zen and GEODESIS. In 2025, it marked 450 years since Koju’s founding. Mainichi-Koh and Seiun are flagship fragrance examples associated with the brand’s wider household recognition; Seiun launched in September 1965 and became a representative long-selling brand.