I received some incense sticks as a souvenir from our neighbour following a trip to Asia. I was eight years old at the time and they seemed infinitely precious to me. They smelt different to anything I’d encountered up until that point, and soon the whole linen cupboard where they were put smelt the same, enchanting and exotic …

The word “nagomi” sounds mysterious and promising: is it the name of a Central African desert? Are the Nagomi an indigenous Amazonian tribe? Or is it the name of a newly opened celebrity restaurant in Kensington? None of these things are nagomi – or maybe somehow they are, as the three melodious syllables represent the Japanese art of achieving harmony and balance in life by incorporating opposites and conflict…