Shiseido

Shiseido began in 1872, when Arinobu Fukuhara, former chief pharmacist to the Imperial Japanese Navy, opened Japan’s first private Western-style pharmacy in the Ginza district of Tokyo. The company name, drawn from a passage in the Chinese classic I Ching, is commonly interpreted as praising the virtues of the earth and its ability to generate new life and value. Shiseido gradually shifted from pharmaceuticals toward beauty, introducing Japan’s first toothpaste in 1888 and moving into cosmetics with the launch of the softening lotion Eudermine in 1897.

The brand entered fragrance early in the 20th century: sources note a Shiseido perfume launch in 1918 as part of its expanding cosmetics line. Over the decades, Shiseido developed its own in-house design and laboratory capabilities, formalizing its cosmetics business as a separate unit in 1916 and incorporating as Shiseido Co., Ltd. in 1927. Its fragrance portfolio has included both Japan-focused releases and globally distributed scents, often sold alongside skincare and makeup rather than through a stand-alone perfume division.

In fragrance, Shiseido tends to favor polished, balanced constructions with a strong emphasis on wearability and skin-friendliness, often integrating floral, powdery, and musky themes that sit comfortably with the brand’s skincare heritage. While many of its best-known scents are now discontinued or rebranded under other group labels, Shiseido’s perfume history remains closely tied to the company’s broader identity as a science-driven Japanese beauty house with a long record of product innovation.