Rethinking the Nature of Mourning

Kan Izumi (Izumi) ： I’ve personally had several experiences in my life where I was forced to face “death” up close. For example, when I was 25, I experienced serious illness, a traffic accident, and even the loss of someone close to me. Through those experiences, I was left with a strong sense that death truly comes without warning. At the same time, no matter how dangerous the situation was, I never really felt, “I can’t die yet,” but rather, it felt more like “I’m not allowed to die yet.” Perhaps it’s because I still have a role to fulfill.

Creating scents is one of those roles I’ve been given. Especially after moving my base to Awaji Island, I’ve become strongly aware of my role towards the land itself.

Also, the experiences and feelings we have when we witness someone’s death are deeply engraved in our bodies. The grief that makes you cry and cry until no tears are left remains within you in a synesthetic way. Sometimes, with just a whiff of a scent, all of those feelings and atmospheres come rushing back at once. I believe scents have the power to open the door to such memories.

Shunsuke Kato (Kato) ：As Mr. Izumi mentioned, taking time to carefully face our memories and emotions is, by nature, something important for everyone. But these days, I feel that the act of mourning itself has become more and more formalized. For instance, the tradition of keeping vigil with a candle burning all night after a wake has now often been replaced with electric candles for safety reasons, or sutras are simply played back as recordings.

Originally, these practices were meant to create time for the bereaved to face their emotions, but in the name of efficiency and safety, I feel their essential purpose has been left behind. That’s why QUANTUM seeks to return to the essence of mourning and propose time for the bereaved to truly face their feelings.

Izumi: I feel exactly the same. For me, the act of mourning is not so much for the deceased as it is for the ones left behind. Remembering that person, and embracing the sadness and sense of loss within oneself as one’s own emotions – if scents can quietly accompany that process, I believe it has deep meaning.

Furthermore, the sense of smell is originally something animals possess to survive. Humans have come to rely more on sight and hearing in modern civilization, but I feel that this instinctive sense of smell sharpens especially when facing “death.” In a way, becoming aware of death is like reclaiming one’s wild instincts, and because of that, I believe the power of scents acts even more deeply and strongly in such moments.

The Harmony Between Heart
and Space That Scents Connect.

Izumi: I’ve always been thinking about the relationship between scents and “prayer.” Not just in Buddhism, but even in Christian Mass there is a culture of burning incense, and in Japan too, plant-based materials have long been used in rituals. Cultures of purifying spaces and offering prayers with scents exist all over the world. Why do we burn scents when we pray? I believe the concept of “frequency” plays a role in that.

It is said that all living things have frequencies. Humans, plants – as long as they are alive, they possess their own unique vibrations. Essential oils, too, are entities that carry this “wave of life.” On the other hand, incense materials are already dried, and are said to hold almost no frequency.

Thinking this way, I feel that the nature of essential oils as “living materials” holds a special meaning in spaces of prayer. In fact, modern aromatherapy also believes that the high-frequency energy emitted by essential oils affects human emotions and energy fields (Valnet, 1982; Worwood, 1991), and they are used as a means to balance the inner self.

It is said that the human body responds to frequencies from several tens of Hz to below 100 Hz, while essential oils are described as having frequencies of tens of thousands of megahertz.*1 By diffusing such high-frequency scents into a space, it calms the mind and quietly harmonizes one’s inner rhythm with the atmosphere of the place. I think this is also a form of prayer – an attempt to communicate with the invisible.

This is just my personal hypothesis, but I feel there is such fundamental meaning in QUANTUM choosing essential oils as its medium.

The Contours of Multifacetedness
that Another Scent Reveals

Kato: Right now, we’ve asked Mr. Izumi to create a second scent, “No.59.” When I first experienced No.00 and No.59 side by side, their contrast left a strong impression on me. The stillness and spaciousness of No.00 felt even more pronounced in the presence of No.59.

Izumi: Yes, exactly. As you just said, “contrast” is extremely important to me. Rather than duality, perhaps it’s closer to “multifacetedness.” When there is a clear contrast, I feel human senses become more sharpened, and the contours of things come into clearer focus.

Living on Awaji Island, nature is very close to me, but sometimes, when you’re deep in the mountains, it becomes harder to really “see” it. For example, I might think, “This branch has such a beautiful form,” but in the landscape of the mountain, it blends in and disappears. However, if I cut just that branch and bring it back to my studio, placing it in the space, its contours emerge distinctly. I believe human senses work like that.

These days, with so much information and noise, it has become difficult to perceive boundaries. We’re thrown into a world where it’s as if “there are no boundaries” from the start, and in such a world, it is very hard to sharpen our senses and listen to subtle discomforts. That’s why, sometimes, showing two opposing things side by side is incredibly important.

No.00 and No.59 exist precisely in such contrast. If No.00 is a scent for facing oneself in a “neutral” state – like the freshness between water and air – then No.59 is a scent that takes you one step deeper, to face your inner depths.

Its theme is the “Great Journey.” It translates humanity’s journey from Africa to Japan into the composition of scents. Using African-origin plants as a base, it creates a flow connecting to Japan. Through this journey-like image, I hope the scent will connect to somewhere deep within a person – perhaps even touching genetic-level memories.

Right now, we are in the final stages of preparing for the release of No.59.I’m already looking forward to seeing how this scent will accompany someone’s memories and time in the future.