Mosquito coils, known as katori senkō 蚊取り線香 (literally "mosquito-removing incense") in Japanese, are an unmistakable part of the iconography of summer in Japan. For many Japanese people, they have a nostalgic appeal and, as we introduced in an article a few years ago, they are still used in many homes to this day.

Rina | © PIXTA

Inspired by the incense's spiral shape, Japanese hobbyist and Twitter user 神谷聖 Hijiri Kamiya (@kamiya_hijiri) made what could be called a work of art.

It looks like an armillary sphere! The ancient astronomical tools, like the one pictured below, were used to model celestial objects.

By a Society of Gentlemen in Scotland, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

As you can see, Kamiya's armillary sphere is made entirely out of mosquito coils!

Reproduced with permission from 神谷聖 Hijiri Kamiya (@kamiya_hijiri)

The "artistry" of the mosquito coils has been well-received, with many surprised people commenting on it:

  • "It looks like an item used in a ritual. When you light it on fire, I think something might happen..."
  • "How did you manage to complete it without breaking the coils?"
  • "This is actually very cool..."

Some of the comments revealed that Kamiya wasn't the first to have come up with the idea, with one experimenter revealing: "If you light it on fire, it turns into a ball of fire..."

The mosquito-repelling power will be tripled, but so will the flames...

If you intend to try this project, please be careful when lighting it and don't leave it unattended...


By - grape Japan editorial staff.