Interview with Chikako Perez of TOKYO KODO

December 24, 2021

Hi it's Shohei.
Ms. Chikako Perez of TOKYO KODO, who produced "KUON Incense Sticks", held a workshop at KUON Flagship Store last weekend.

Here is a conversation between Ms. Perez and Arata, the CEO of KUON, about KUON's original incense.

1. Why KUON produced the incense sticks

2. About the incense sticks

3. About TOKYO KODO

4. About Ms. Perez

1. Why KUON produced the incense sticks

Shohei (S; hereafter): Ms. Perez, thank you for holding the workshop today. I and our customers enjoyed it so much. Can we have some more time to talk about the incense sticks, please?

Ms. Perez (P; hereafter): My pleasure. Thank you for having me today.

S: Well, Arata, could you start with talking about the reasons to produced the incense sticks?

Arata (A; hereafter): OK. I believe scents are one of the most important part for stores. "good stores have good scents" like Collete in Paris had their scent.

P: Yes, I agree.

A: Comme des Garçons as well...No need to say, it is necessary to have good products to be a good store, but I strongly believe that the signature scent is also necessary especially for flagship stores. When I decided to open the KUON store, I wanted to produce KUON's signature scent. When I thought about the origins of KUON, I realized that incense stick was the only way to go.

P: You told me that you had contacted some companies that produced incense sticks, right?

A: Yes, There were a lot of things I didn't know about making incense, so I contacted several companies that could make original incense for us.

P: I see. How were their reactions?

A: It depends but they were tend to be like...business-oriented. Actually, when we opened the store, I bought some "Aotake" (the name of TOKYO KODO's incense) from Circle, a dealer of KUON in Aoyama and burned it all the time. It was my favorite scent. When I contacted Ms. Perez, I thought, "I can't go wrong with Mr. Perez."

P: Thank you.

2. About the incense sticks

S: So, could you talk about the incense sticks?

A: I just ordered "refreshing scent". LOL

S: Is that all??

P: It was a tough order...LOL

However, I felt a lot of inspiration from KUON's clothes, and I want to mix "the West and Japan"...in the way we usually do. It's like making a fragrance and finishing it in Japan.

S: Thank you. Actually, the incense was given to our customers as a gift to commemorate the first anniversary of the store, and many customers bought it as soon as it was released. I believe it is a proof that the image of KUON and the scent match well and have been accepted by our customers.

P: Glad to hear that.

3. About TOKYO KODO

S: Ms. Perez, could you tell us a bit about TOKYO KODO?

P: TOKYO KODO is a brand that started with an idea to raise the value of incense. I am the third generation to be born in an incense wholesaler, and I have always felt uncomfortable with the fact that incense has only two values, Buddhism goods or miscellaneous goods. I thought, "There should be incense brand that makes incense in an artistic way, like fragrances", and that's when I started this brand.

I wanted to create something that would expand the world of incense like a fragrance, so I studied perfumery in Grasse, south France that is the center of perfumery and taught myself the world of incense.

A: As for incense, do you use your family background?

P: No, I don't.

A: Amazing.

P: My family business is a wholesaler, not a manufacturer, so I created my current style almost entirely on my own.

Of course, there were some people taught the manufacturing, but it was difficult to find a way to blend Western and Japanese techniques without doing research by myself everyday.

A: Don't ordinary incense manufacturers do the fragrance preparation work that you do in your atelier?

【対談】KUON Incense Sticks / 東京香堂ペレス千夏子

P: No, it depends on the manufacture, but of course they do it. However, I think the fragrance preparation method is a confidential part.

A: Ah, I see.

P: That is what makes each incense manufacture unique, and this is the part that doesn't come out in the open.

A: So, it means that the fragrance preparation is the most important part, and each manufacturer have their own ways.

P: I guess so. I don't know how they do but, I believe that they have perfumers.

A: How to become perfumers in Japan?

P: There are some schools teach perfumery...but I guess many people study it in Europe like me.

A: Are there many people coming into the incense industry now? After studying abroad, wouldn't they go into the perfume industry?

P: Well, perfume and aroma industry are popular now. I see many perfumers in aroma industry.

A: So, it is rare to see perfumers in incense industry like you.

P: It could be. It's a super niche industry. LOL When I was working in France, I was told that it would be difficult to live as a perfumer in incense industry because it was quite niche. However, I was told that "French people can't make a fragrance that represents the incense culture". I thought I had no choice but to do it.

A: The most typical Japanese fragrance is incense.

P: Yes it is.

4. About Ms. Perez

S: Could you tell us about yourself a bit?

P: I was born in the third generation of an incense wholesaler, but originally I had no plans to take over the family business, so I studied textile design in an University and worked at a textile design office. I was involved in textile design related to fashion.

However, after the great earthquake in Japan, a lot of things happened to me at a same time and I thought, "I should give it a try". To be honest, I was scared to deal with "scent" that cannot be seen or touched because I had been dealing with textiles, which can be seen and touched.

I went to France because the family business had been taken over by my sister, so I decided to do something that she wasn't doing as a family business.

A: When is it?

P: It was in 2012. After 1-year-study of perfumery in Grasse, I worked for a company in perfume. I met Geoffrey, my husband at there.

The time I spent there was very important. I was shown a lot of raw materials, and actually some of my first products were made in there. I was allowed to use a lab for two hours after work to prepare fragrance.

A: Is it the time when you started TOKYO KODO?

P: To be precise, my sister was actually the one who started it. It's a completely different field/style from what we do now though. I took over the trade name and started it in 2014.

A: After coming back to Japan?

P: Yes. I just took over the business name, and I hadn't started the business yet. At the same time, I asked my sister to end the business she was running as "TOKYO KODO", and I start "TOKYO KODO" as my own business.

A: First time to hear that. When did Geoffrey join TOKYO KODO?

P: It was in 2018...unclear though.

A: Has the atelier I visited the other day been there at that time?