Japanese candle making

30 May 2006 Category: Arts & Crafts, Japan, Products

Japanese candle making

Relaaax... I am a Japanese candle!

Let’s begin by looking into this candle light. Warm, soothing and relaxing, isn’t it? For us - children of electricity - it is hard to imagine, that candles used to be all we had to bring light into the dark. Many countries developed them independently (the Egyptians and Cretans made candles from beeswax as early as 3000 BC - unbelievable!) - but they are all based on the same idea: an internal wick rising through the center of a column of solid fuel, getting lit and spreading a beautiful, peaceful light. Now the question is: What kind of fuel do you use? And how do you design your wick?

written by YoCo
translated by Natsumi

Today we will focus a little bit on the particular design and crafts of traditional Japanese candles. I went all the way to a traditional Japanese candle making workshop in Takashima, Shiga Prefecture called Daiyo to report for Ping.

The exterior of the workshop in Takashima, Shiga Prefecture

The shop’s front entrance

There are four basic techniques of producing candles: the very cheap ones (tealights for example) which simply use powdered paraffin pressed into the desired shape (pressed candles), then you can cast a candle by pouring the fuel into a certain shape (cast candles), bees wax candles are often sheets of thin wax wrapped around the wick (wrapped candles) but then you can also dip your wick into hot wax or pull it through a basin of liquid wax several times until the desired thickness is achieved (dip candles).

This later dipping-technique is similar to how Japanese people create their candles and is one of the conditions to create a solid, non-dripping, precise burning candle.

Japanese candle on a simple portable candleholder. The unusual shape of the candle (called Ikarigata-candle) is custom built for Buddhist ceremonies

Now, why is that so important? Imagine you live in a house made entirely from paper and wood and the only way to make light is to burn a candle. How would you feel? I guess you would be super-extra-careful and happy to pay a little more for those candles which do not drip, jitter of spark a lot, wouldn’t you? And that is of course what Japanese people tried to create: quality candles!

Of course many houses are made of stone and glass nowadays, so trendy colorful scented aromatherapy-candles are also fashionable over here, but you can still tell, that Japanese people are generally a little scared of any type of open fire - maybe it is in the genes…

Unfortunately, the presence of Japanese candles is not as widely recognised as that of European candles and Japanese candles are actually a very little use today. This is partly due to the fact that candles in Japan have long been used at special occasions such as Buddhist events and tea ceremonies only. Essentially, they are designed for uses at sombre scenes and not for relaxation, really (… I watched people unconsciously straightening their posture when looking into the solemn light of a Japanese candle).

However, there seems to be a recent trend and people get more interested in those old, handmade candles and worship their particular beauty.

Akihiro Ohnishi, a Japanese candle maker

Since Japanese candles are rather traditional, they stuck to their original, natural ingredients and techniques from ancient times: only the purest Sumac wax is used (to assure a high quality candle), special attention goes to producing a perfect wick (which is most essential to create a safe candle to keep your house from burning) and only certain colors are allowed.

Many people believe that pure natural ingredients such as beeswax or Japan wax burn much cleaner than parafin candles. Everything else which gets added (such as fragrance oils or color) only disturbes a pure flame!

white, finished candles are colored in vermilion - one of the few traditionally allowed colors

this beautiful hue of red with white almost looks like sweets

Sumac or in this case Japan wax is actually a byproduct of lacquer manufacture. It is not a true wax and closer to fat. Since the original plant it is extracted from is poisonous, it can cause severe skin irritation. When I went to look at how the people at Daiyo still show traditional candle making, I was surprised to see, that they do it all by hand. The traditional way! (The Sumac oil is also used to style our sumo wrestler’s hair by the way..)

Now we know about the wax, what is so special about the wick?

You can easily notice, that it is comparatively thick. European candles usually use plaited cotton strings drenched in wax, which are much thinner. The Japanese wick uses rush fibres at the core with specially prepared paper coiled around it. See?


Noodle-like candle wicks made from rush fibres

Wick sticks are also made from Japanese paper

Finished wicks

Wick sticking out of a candle

Once the wick is successfully completed, hot wax (about 40-42 degrees celsius) gets poured over several wicks at once, rolled in the craftsmen’s hands (more than 10 times for a thin candle) until it is cold enough to toss it with another layer. Repeat until desired thickness is achieved.

Quickly pouring wax over the wicks by hand

The artisan’s hand covered in Japan wax of pale green color

It takes a lot of effort to make candles this way, but provides that there are hardly any harmful fumes or guttering. Since only the purest Sumac fat is used without any other ingredients, all materials are 100% natural and you can be sure, that each handmade candle holds a lot of love. Dream yourself into a traditional Japanese room with sliding doors, paper screens with wooden sash bars while the soft light of the candle shines gently - just for you!

Recently, there are also some new designs. Apart from simple dying in a few colors, hand painted candles by traditional Japanese painters are becoming increasingly popular. How about a small gift of Japanese candles for your design-hungry girlfriend?

Japanese candles with flower paintings

a variety of Japanese candles

Interestingly enough, big leading department stores such as the Takashimaya department store in Yokohama also got interested in this traditional candle trend and tries to raise the traditional crafts awareness of their customers. (I suppose this goes along with a general interest in all things traditional that comes up strongly in Japan - and many other places in the world…)

If you are interested visit the department store in Yokohama from 6th – 11th June: they will have a demonstration and sales event about the making of Japanese candles.

click to view on my google map

35 Comments

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