Warousoku - Japanese Haze candle

Warousoku - Japanese Haze candle

Haze is the fruit of wax tree, which is the main material of Japanese candle, Warousoku. The wick is made of Washi paper, dried rush plant, and silk floss.

Nowadays there are more paraffin-made mass Japanese candles than authentic Haze candles: due to the natural materials and many handwork processes required, the authentic Haze Warousoku has became unaffordable for daily use. For example, many temples can’t afford them anymore for their daily practice.

But on the other hand, there are more and more artisans emerging who create Warousoku for art of life - one of them is Atelier Kana.

‘‘There are only two manufactures throughout Japan who supply the ingredients for traditional Warousoku’’, she mentioned as I met her in her atelier in Japan. ‘‘If those two manufactures stop producing the ingredients, whole Warousoku industry will disappear, which has been passed down to our generation over 1000 years. I don’t want to let that happen. I want to pass this tradition down to the next generations.’’

Warousoku of Atelier Kana is available at Onoda from this December.