On a more serious note, it is positively fascinating to me how far-distant cultures such as the Arabs and Japanese, who seemingly have nothing germane to each other (
prima facie), have appropriated a totally foreign raw material and have so deeply and intricately integrated it in to their cultures, identity, traditions! That speaks to the transformative nature of Agarwood. Deeply moving sutff.
Addendum: I do not mean to use the word "appropriate" in the modern, controversial sense
Post Scriptum: Come to think of it, we even use the transliterated Arabic "Oud" in English!
Please forgive my pretentious Latin. Couldn't help myself this morning.