JAPANESE TRADITIONAL CANDLES - NEW & RESTOCKED
We have been introducing the Japanese traditional candles here on UGUiSU for quite some time now. They are beautiful Japanese traditional crafts now made by only a handful of craftsmen.
So what are traditional candles or "wa-rousoku" and how are they different from other candles? This question actually comes from our Japanese customers in store quite often too, we don't see them so much around even in Japan today.
Japanese candles are completely handmade, made of 100% vegetable wax such as "HAZE" -laquer tree seed wax- or "NUKA" -rice bran wax- and washi paper is used for the core, they are made in the techniques and materials that have not changed since 16th century. These candles give very little smoke and a brighter light compared to modern paraffin candles, and they go down so well with almost no drip and no smell that modern paraffin candles have when put out.
At UGUiSU online store we recommend Japanese candles from Takazawa Candle Co from Ishikawa prefecture, and now from Daiyo from Shiga Prefecture.
One of the newly added traditional candles are these lovely floral painted candles.
Floral painted candles are originated in Tohoku (north east part of Japan), during their harsh winter it used to be very hard to get fresh flowers so people started to paint flowers on the candles and used them for the Buddhist altar at their homes as alternatives to fresh flowers. When I first heard this story I thought it's really sweet, don't you think? Now they would be good alternatives to fresh flowers during hot summer when it's hard to keep flowers fresh.
Also new are these pretty coloured candles called IRO Rousoku (colour candles). These candles are made with 100% rice bran wax and also made in the traditional techniques but made with modern ideas. They are available in 2 sets, TOIRO which include 10 candles and HANA for 5 candles both come in boxes.
These Japanese traditional candles should be used on candle stands that are made for them, such as these. You can see other designs here.
I hope you enjoy these special Japanese candles!
