I was unable to take pictures of the equipment and the containers that were passed around. However, for this experience, I think it will be most memorable through the smell of sandalwood.
Incense
- the shavings of the wood were placed on a square plastic sheet above the charcoal
- the rounded lump of charcoal is buried under the sand/soil
- the soil forms a triangle above this, upon which the sheet sits
- when breathing in the scent, there are rules of decorum
- the main guest, who sits to the left of the host, breathes out to the right whie the remaining guest breathe out to the left
- one hand grips the thumb of the other hand to form an enclosure over the incense
- you can also hold the container around the mouth with both hands to make an enclosure
- only breathe in the scent at most three times
- incense originally used to hide odor in other countries
- in Japan, fashionable to have scented clothes or hair
- eventually became a game in which guests smell several unidentified incense and guess what they are
