A WINDOW TO THE WORLD OF HERITAGE CRAFTMANSHIP

Candles first arrived in Japan from China during the 8th century CE, together with Buddhism. In time, Japan developed their own plant-based candles - the warosoku, at first experimenting with pine resins and eventually settling on wax extracted from haze tree berries, also known as sumac. 

Japanese candles are built around a thick, hollow wick made of washi paper, rush weeds and sometimes silk fibres. Traditionally, the artisans shape each candle by repeatedly applying fine layers of melted wax by hand, before hand-pouring one final layer of red or white wax. The artisans then finish the candles also by hand, cutting them to size and perfectly carving out the wick at the top.