THE FRAGRANCE OF JAPANESE SPIRIT – Kento Mori × Kohgen Zukoh (Body Powder Incense)

THE FRAGRANCE OF JAPANESE SPIRIT – Kento Mori × Kohgen Zukoh

Wear the Silence. Feel the Japanese Spirit.

THE FRAGRANCE OF JAPANESE SPIRIT is a collaboration zukoh series born from a partnership between KM1, the production company of world-renowned artist Kento Mori, and Kohgen, a long-established incense house carrying forward Japan's traditional fragrance craftsmanship.

Zukoh is a traditional incense powder that has long been used at Japanese temples and in classical performing arts to purify the body and settle the mind before prayer or performance. Warmed gently by the body's own heat, it releases a subtle, elegant fragrance directly from the skin — a uniquely Japanese way of "wearing" incense.

Under KM1's uncompromising creative direction, this centuries-old tradition has been redefined for contemporary life: not simply a reproduction of the past, but a personal ritual that sharpens the mind and body of the modern individual. Kohgen brought this vision to life, drawing on generations of knowledge of natural aromatic woods and herbal materials, together with the refined blending skill of its master perfumers, to create a fragrance of real depth and quiet composure.

The series expresses nine concepts drawn from Japanese spirituality and the natural world: LOVE, UNIVERSE, DREAM, WIND, LIGHT, SKY, WATER, FIRE, and LAND. Each fragrance offers its own interpretation of these themes, inviting a moment of quiet reflection into everyday life.

LIGHT

LIGHT stands as the series' central fragrance, drawn from a theme that has run through Kento Mori's life and work for over a decade. In August 2013, Mori performed the first-ever contemporary dance offering at Ise Grand Shrine; photographs from that day captured countless orbs of light, leading him to sense that something unseen radiates through movement itself. Since then, "light" has remained a defining theme of his art — reflected even in the names he gave his own children.

Mori has also long carried the words of Saicho, founder of the Tendai school of Buddhism on Mt. Hiei: "Ichigu wo terasu" — to illuminate one corner. Rather than seeking to light up the whole world, the phrase speaks to doing what one can, right where one stands, so that one's own corner grows a little brighter. It is this same idea that has kept the Fumetsu no Hoto, the "Never-Extinguished Dharma Light" at Enryakuji on Mt. Hiei, burning continuously for some 1,200 years — sustained not by any single guardian, but by generation after generation quietly adding oil where it was needed.

At the launch event held at Kohgen's Ginza flagship store on August 8, 2026, Mori shared this story in conversation with Gyokai Imadegawa, a Tendai priest of Enryakuji, before closing the day with a live performance of his Ise Shrine offering dance. LIGHT was created to carry that same quiet, enduring flame — a fragrance meant to illuminate one's own corner of the day.

Photo: Hiroki Hara (Instagram: @hiroki_nsty)

Complete Set (9 Scents)

This set includes one container of each of the nine THE FRAGRANCE OF JAPANESE SPIRIT fragrances — LOVE, UNIVERSE, DREAM, WIND, LIGHT, SKY, WATER, FIRE, and LAND — for those who wish to experience the full range of the collection.

About Kento Mori

Kento Mori is a globally celebrated artist recognized by some of the world's greatest performers, including Madonna and Michael Jackson. Fusing dance, Japanese culture, and cutting-edge technology, he continues to create next-generation entertainment on stages around the world.