Shoyeido – Premium – Matsu-no-tomo

I received samples of Matsu-no-tomo, or ‘Friend of Pine‘, from two people: once in a sample swap with Redditor u/Opuaut in mid-2024, and last year (2025) another sample from Sebastian, with whom I exchange samples from time to time.
What’s special about Sebastian’s sample is that it was brought straight from Japan, and therefore is very fresh. He got it at the end of a tour through the Shoyeido manufactory in Kyoto attached to their Main Store.

Besides the sticks, the sample from the Shoyeido manufactory includes a small holder, like the one included with the sampler for the Horin line. The leaflet provides information about the sample’s variety.

The regular Matsu-no-tomo sticks are 7″ (about 18cm) long. The sample from the factory tour contains three 11cm-long sticks.
There’s also a long variant at 9.75″ (25cm).

Varieties from the Premium line are sporadically available in Germany. A shop called Oryoki carries the standard variant for €16.50 (35 sticks); at Padma Store they’re currently sold out.

Ingredients: sandalwood, cloves, benzoin, camphor, patchouli, spices

Shoyeido describes Matsu-no-tomo as a “fresh, cool scent, reminiscent of a breeze blowing through an ancient pine forest.” The description also mentions Chinese medicinal herbs.

The raw sticks are spicy with a certain umami note, or a curry-like smell, and a slight sweetness.
The newer sample additionally smells strongly of camphor.

The smell of the burning sticks is quite full, but not necessarily what I’d pictured given the name ‘Friend of Pine‘. The scent does have something green about it, but not really in a foresty, or even conifer-like sense.
The patchouli makes itself known, and I find the character of the spiciness itself somehow green, but it’s not a smell that gives me the feeling of being out in nature.

That’s largely down to the umami character, which comes through clearly in both batches, though it’s a bit stronger in the newer one. It’s not really a food smell, but it has something of a spice drawer that contains curry, among other things.
Alongside that is a subtle sweetness, a bitter note (which I also picked up on in Emerald) and, at least in the newer sticks, the freshness of camphor.

Aside from the scent not matching what I’d imagined, I find it quite interesting.