SAKAI, Osaka Prefecture--Using bark from the official tree of Kamaishi, night students at Sakai Technical High School have made “senko” incense sticks, to be used at the upcoming memorial service to commemorate the third anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake in Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture.
SAKAI, Osaka Prefecture--Using bark from the official tree of Kamaishi, night students at Sakai Technical High School have made “senko” incense sticks, to be used at the upcoming memorial service to commemorate the third anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake in Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture.
Kamaishi was devastated by the tsunami that followed the massive earthquake on March 11, 2011. One of the ingredients used in the incense project was the bark of “tabunoki” (machilus thunbergii), Kamaishi’s official tree.
“We have put our will to continue to support the disaster-hit areas in the character ‘kizuna’ (bond),” said Mitsunori Yasuda, a teacher of the school's special studies classes that undertook the effort. “I would be grateful if the senko, which students put their hearts into, can offer silent support to the people in the disaster areas."
On Feb. 22, about a dozen students and a teacher gathered at Okuno Seimeido, a well-established senko manufacturer and distributor in the city, to pack what they had made, after repeated failures, into a wooden box.
“I hope our senko will help comfort people in the disaster-stricken area,” said student leader Yuya Kawata, 18.
Words inscribed on the paulownia container were kizuna and “Kamaishi×Sakai.”
According to Yasuda, the school started offering practical training classes in making and selling knives and senko, traditional crafts in Sakai. Part of the profits from the special studies classes has been donated to disaster victims overseas.
When the 2011 earthquake and tsunami struck northeastern Japan, Sakai Technical High students voiced their desires to do something for the stricken areas.
They made incense sticks, using as ingredients for the scent official city flowers of Kamaishi, Tono and Rikuzentakata in Iwate Prefecture and Kesennuma in Miyagi Prefecture, and sold them in Sakai and donated profits from the sales to earthquake and tsunami victims.
Hiroshi Okuno, president of Okuno Seimeido, instructed the students in senko-making techniques.
When Yasuda and Okuno met with Kamaishi Mayor Takenori Noda during visits to the disaster-stricken areas last year, they were asked about the basic ingredients of senko.
When Okuno replied they were made from tabunoki, Noda said, “Tabunoki is Kamaishi’s city tree. I want your students to make senko using the wood.”
In autumn, the high school received a package of tabunoki bark from Kamaishi.
According to Okuno, the bark is dried and made into a powder before being blended with different scent essences such as musk and sandalwood. It is then kneaded into a clay form.
The mixture is rolled and made into sticks and cut to the proper length.
The students worked through this process before their senko were sent to Okuno’s factory to be dried and finished.
Stick incenses enough for 800 people were completed.
Among fragrance essences used was the “hamayuri” beach lily, which is Kamaishi’s city flower.
Each of the paulownia boxes bears a student’s message, such as “May your heart always be warm and at peace.”
The boxes will be provided to memorial service participants free of charge.