Shoyeido – Selects – Baikaju · Plum Blossom

Baikaju was another bargain I found on Kleinanzeigen. I bought it in mid-2025 with two other boxes of Japanese incense sticks (Shoyeido – Moss Garden and Asayu – Agarwood).

Plum Blossom appears to be available exclusively in this pack size, with 150 sticks of approx. 14cm length. The burning time is given as 30 minutes.
In Germany, I currently find only one shop that sells them: zenminded.de, for €25.
In England (Lotus Zen Incense) they cost 14.95£;
in the USA (Shoyeido) you pay $11.95;
ordering directly from Japan at Wa no Kaori, the pack costs €8.95.

It feels as though Baikaju – Plum Blossom should belong to the ‘daily incense’ lineup, but in fact, Shoyeido groups them with a few other standalone varieties under the name ‘Selects‘.

I feel like Plum Blossom have similarity to the varieties Autumn Leaves, Golden Pavilion and Moss Garden. In all of them, the fragrance focus lies on cinnamon, which stands out clearly from all these sweet varieties.

Baikaju are exceptionally sweet as well. Without having directly compared them to the three mentioned varieties, I’d say they’re the sweetest.
I’ve found that the character of the sweetness depends strongly on air dilution:
When I have the stick burning in my living room or in the adjacent room, I perceive the smell mainly as powdery, especially as the woodiness of the sandalwood base shows itself most clearly that way.
Set up in the hallway so that the fragrance has to travel quite a distance to reach me, the sweetness comes through really intensely and feels rather creamy.

With the cinnamon note, it’s similar. When I’m in the same room as the burning stick, the cinnamon is noticeable, with its warm and spicy tone, but feels rather woody; in high dilution, a light tingle of cinnamon’s sharpness emerges. Cooler air seems to contribute to this.

When the fragrance isn’t overly diluted, I perceive a subtle freshness or fine acidity that balances the sweetness to some degree.

From the beginning, I was uncertain whether Baikaju really smell floral, or whether it’s just the power of suggestion that makes me think so.
It’s definitely not the same type of florality as in modern Japanese incense sticks based on oils, or Indian ones for that matter.
But, yes, they are floral, in a subtle, quiet way.

Baikaju are very popular among Shoyeido fans, and I can see why: the fragrance is easy to like, unobtrusive (if you like sweet fragrances) and feels natural.
Nevertheless, I can’t quite get past the ‘if-you-know-one-you-know-them-all’ feeling that comes with Shoyeido.
In direct comparison, the differences between similar varieties are quite distinct, but taken individually, they often feel repetitive.