SHISEIDO GLOBAL FLAGSHIP STORE

On 31 July 2020, Shiseido opened the SHISEIDO GLOBAL FLAGSHIP STORE in Ginza — three floors, on the ground where the company began.

One corner of it holds a meditation capsule, the first of its kind in Japan. For thirty minutes, with the sound and light of the shop shut out, a guest sits with themselves. Binaural beats, shifting light, a warming sheet — and scent. All the senses work at once.

The scent is Ultimune, Shiseido’s signature serum. The brand itself, delivered through the nose.

Small, and closed

A capsule is a little room. Shut the door and the air barely moves. Put an ordinary diffuser in there and the scent has nowhere to go: it thickens, and it stays long after the session ends.

The next booking arrives thirty minutes later. If the previous guest’s scent is still hanging, that person’s thirty minutes begin inside someone else’s fragrance.

Scent only when it is called for

So the capsule uses Aroma Shooter 2. Nothing is sprayed: the scent arrives at the moment it is wanted and clears afterwards. Even in a small space it does not grow heavy, and it does not settle into the capsule.

Bringing scent into a closed room, and leaving none of it behind. Two things that sound opposed, and both were required.