By Kosei Nara,
At a time when chrysanthemum flower production for use in mosquito-repelling incense coils has all but ceased in Japan, the tradition has been picked up in Kenya where thousands of people are killed every year by mosquito-borne malaria.
A company based in central Japan has begun teaching the technique to local farmers in the East African country, which is a major producer of pyrethrum that naturally contains the active insecticide that, in high doses, can kill mosquitoes.
Hiromitsu Iio, 48, is the executive director of Rinnesha Co., the company based in the Aichi Prefecture city of Tsushima which has taken on the challenge. He says coil production can be done almost entirely by hand, without the use of complicated machinery.
He hopes the mosquito coils, long a common sight and smell of summertime in Japan, can create jobs in Kenya, a country the World Bank says has 36 percent of its population living on less than $2.25 per day.
The coils are known to repel the insects and reduce their ability to feed on humans, especially outdoors in still air, giving people easy access to a weapon in the battle against deadly malaria.
Rinnesha deals in organic agricultural and livestock products and natural household goods and has a pyrethrum farm in Takinoue, a town located in the Okhotsk Subprefecture in Hokkaido, where the "jochugiku" flower (bug-repellant chrysanthemum) is produced.
"We hope we can help Kenya use Japanese know-how," said Iio, whose company has over three decades of experience manufacturing and selling mosquito coils made from natural ingredients.
Since 2017, Iio has visited Nakuru, a city some 140 kilometers northwest of the Kenyan capital Nairobi, to advise people on how to make coils by hand while creating a business opportunity for the community.
The collaboration came about through a chance meeting the same year. Through a connection with an organic farming organization in which he participates, Iio attended a conference in Germany with local young farmers and introduced his company's products. A Kenyan pyrethrum farmer who happened to be there inquired about making mosquito coils in his home country.
According to Iio, the use of large machinery for processing pyrethrum is standard in Kenya, requiring a huge initial investment for any would-be entrepreneur. In contrast, Rinnesha's products can be made by pulverizing sun-dried pyrethrum, woodchips and other natural ingredients before hardening them -- a process done mainly by hand.
The mosquito coils, known as "katori senko" in Japanese, were invented in Arida, Wakayama Prefecture, western Japan.
Businessman Eiichiro Ueyama, the founder of Dainihon Jochugiku Co., obtained pyrethrum seeds from an American trader in the mid-1880s. At the time, the species was not grown in Japan and Ueyama developed a prototype stick incense a few years later.
In 1902, through a process of trial and error, Ueyama, with advice from his wife Yuki, developed the current spiral form of the widely-known incense that allows for a longer smoldering time.
It was made by hand-kneading the powder and water together in a mold and drying it on a wire mesh for several days.
But with the development of synthetic chemicals after World War II, domestic production of pyrethrum gradually died out and is nearly nonexistent today. Production of Ueyama's Kincho-brand mosquito coils was mechanized in 1957. The trademark red rooster, old-fashioned packaging and green incense coils are still widely known in Japan.
Although the smoky versions of mosquito coils are still on the market and popular with older people who grew up using them, some companies have shifted to plug-in smokeless alternatives as the smoke can be irritating to some. Mosquito coils can also be fire hazards and have resulted in numerous accidents when used indoors.
To bring hand-rolled mosquito coils to market in Kenya, Iio emphasizes creating a new industry in which "producers are involved in the commercialization of their products, which leads to higher incomes and employment for small-scale farmers."
The project has also received support from the Japan International Cooperation Agency for its initiative to contribute to the elimination of poverty in developing countries.
In March, Iio arrived in Nakuru to instruct local farmers on the mosquito coil production method and to hold meetings. Some 860 pyrethrum farmers from the city have participated in the project.
Iio argues there is an advantage unique to using pyrethrum. In recent years, he says, it has been shown that some mosquitoes are resistant to synthetic ingredients contained in common insecticides. Not so, he says, with pyrethrin, the natural pesticide found in pyrethrum.
The World Health Organization has estimated that there were 580,000 deaths across Africa caused by malaria in 2022. Kenya had an estimated 5 million cases and 12,000 deaths reported the same year.
Iio's dream is that local farmers will be able to make their own mosquito coils to protect themselves from malaria. "I want to help solve problems of poverty and malaria with mosquito coils."
Related coverage:
Lightning bugs put on show to thrill locals in Kagawa Prefecture
FEATURE: Edible bug businesses 'hearing crickets' at crossroads in Japan
Japan on alert for unseasonal swarm of stink bugs that feed on fruit
