THIS BOOK IS A LOT LIKE MORETAS BOOK. IF YOU BOUGHT THAT BOOK YOU DONT NEED THIS ONE TO, BUT IF YOU DONT HAVE ANY BOOKS ABOUT JAPANESE INCENSE GET THIS ONE. I WISH IT TALKEDMORE ABOUT OTHER PARTS OF AISA. IF YOUR READING ABOUT JAPAN THIS IS A GREAT BOOK. IF YOUR READING TO LEARN ABOUT INCENSE DONT FORGET TO READ BOOKS ABOUT EURPEAN AND AMERICAN INCENSE TRADITIONS TO. SOME PEOPLE THINK THAT ALL GOOD INCENSE AND TRADITIONS COME FROM JAPAN BUT INCENSE IS PART OF THE HISTORY OF THE WHOLE WORLD.

It's a tough call on the best introductory book on Kodo, between this and Kiyoko Morita. Both have different styles and different approaches.

I would say I prefer this book because the author consulted with more than one incense company and one kodo school his research.

It's very difficult to write on this subject because even in Japan, comprehensive texts are just not to be found, and almost all the texts on the subject are in Japanese.

Kodo is still an art which is taught primarily from teacher to student without the use of texts. Training takes up to 30 years to master the art.

However, anyone can read this book and begin learning and practicing the art. It includes fun quessing games called kumiko, and they range from very simple contests of guessing three different aromas, to very complex games requiring knowledge of Japanese history, poetry, and geography. In total there are over one-thousand such games.

David shows how to prepare the incense furnace, tells about the six varieties of incense used in the contests, and gives you all the basics to get started.

These contests are great entertainment, and make for a really fun evening with friends!