Two traditional crafts of Hyogo prefecture, matchmaking and incense production, have come together in a simple but innovative new design called Hibi: incense sticks in the form of matches that provide ten minutes of a variety of fragrances.

The idea is the collaborative brainchild of Kobe Match, a traditional matchmaker founded in 1929 and Awaji Island's Daihatsu, which has been innovating incense production in Japan since 1936. Combining venerated craftsmanship and inventive design techniques, the two have come up with a matchstick-style incense called Hibi, which is Japanese for "daily" or "day to day". The new brand of incense gets its name from the creative concept behind the product, which is to provide an easy to strike up fragrance to go along with the mood or occasion of each day.

Unlike many incense sticks, Hibi matchsticks are not brittle and do not break easily. As the world's first "incense with ignition function”, Hibi sticks ignite exactly as a match does, and then burns quietly for ten minutes in a variety of scents.

Recipient of the Japan Design Promotion Organization's 2019 Good Design Award (category of Design of Technique & Tradition), Hibi is available from its own online shop in both variety and individual packs of fragrances. A list of stores throughout Japan that sometime stock them is also available.