The Allure of Matcha Perfume
This perfume is a fragrance that expresses the atmosphere and culture of a tea ceremony room, an environment with which I have been familiar ever since I can remember. Nowadays, Japanese green tea has become a standard drink overseas, but for me, tea means “a cup of Matcha tea in a tea ceremony room. The taste of Matcha tea, the aroma of tatami mats, the sound of boiling water in the silence, a hint of light. I created a perfume with a sensibility that wafts through the air in an intimate environment.
Furuta Oribe（古田織部） was a 16th century tea master and one of Sen no Rikyu’s most famous apprentices. He inherited the tea ceremony of Sen no Rikyu, but faithfully carried out his teaching of “do something different.” With his bold, free spirit, he created a new aesthetic of beauty in the world of tea.
This led to the “Oribe aesthetic,” a major trend in garden design, architecture, pottery, and many other artistic expressions of the era. Despite being designed 400 years ago, the signature dark green and black pottery still looks modern today.
The tea master Sotan Kamiya, a wealthy merchant in Hakata who lived at the same time as Oribe Furuta, also praised the novelty of Oribe ware. In his tea ceremony diary, “Sotan Nikki (Sotan’s Diary),” he wrote, “A Seto tea bowl, strangely distorted and comical. A real hyouge-mono (whimsical object).”
The word “Hyouge-mono” also became a nickname for Oribe himself, and is still widely recognized today. The name of the perfume HYOUGE is taken from Oribe’s alias.
The Concept Behind HYOUGE Matcha Perfume
In Japan, bottled green tea was first launched in 1992 and quickly became hugely popular throughout the early 2000s. It was far more convenient than brewing leaf tea in a teapot. At the time, the emphasis was more on drinkability and mildness.
Ever since then, I have wanted to create a fragrance that captures the true character of Japanese tea, its refreshing astringency, gentle bitterness, and deep umami. Rather than regular sweetness, I was drawn in particular to the distinctive aroma of matcha, which is a finely powdered green tea.
I even wanted to recreate the creamy foam that forms on the surface of the tea when it is prepared.
Fragrance of HYOUGE
HYOUGE is slightly bitter, with a hint of cis-Jasmone. This is a single ingredient that contributes to the jasmine note, but is astringent and bitter. I then added a hint of violet leaf as a flavor note. Violet leaf is said to have a cucumber-like aroma, but it actually smells more like kombu dashi (dried kelp soup stock).
The clean, green note alone felt lacking in fullness, so we added florals to give it a sense of body.
Tea, sasanqua, and camellia are members of the same camellia family. The sasanqua blooms in late fall, while the camellia blossoms throughout spring. Tea flowers bloom in December, revealing small white blossoms that resemble miniature camellia flowers.
The tea flowers are fragrant, with a scent reminiscent of sasanqua and of the perfumery material Hedione. Hedione is also closely associated with the scent of jasmine. This led me to believe that tea notes and jasmine would blend naturally together.
Therefore, I added natural jasmine abs. to the formula to give it floral volume. We also incorporated iris butter to capture the powdery foam and silky texture of usucha (thin tea). Various other natural flavorings were also added to give complexity to the green note, which tends to be monotone.
Green tea, especially matcha, has a balance of freshness, bitterness, and flavor, which makes it special.
The Perfume World of Satori
Satori is the signature fragrance of Parfum Satori. Through this fragrance, I wanted to recreate not only the rich scent of agarwood, but also the serene atmosphere of a traditional Japanese room and the quiet elegance of those who enter it.
And similarly, we wanted to make HYOUGE a true Japanese tea fragrance, different from a regular refreshing green tea fragrance. Furthermore, I wanted to capture the spirit of the people who serve tea.
The Green Tea Type Trend and Its Influence
Since the launch of Vent Vert by Pierre Balmain in 1946, the green note has remained a constant presence in perfumery. What began as a bold, fresh green has swung toward floral and citrus over the years.
While perfumes with green tea notes first emerged around 1990, it was Elizabeth Arden’s Green Tea in 1999 that truly brought the category into the spotlight. Although it was refreshing and crisp, to my Japanese sensibilities, it was closer to lemon tea than to the true aroma of Japanese green tea.
Since then, fragrances labeled as “green tea” have remained hugely popular. However, green tea does not necessarily refer to Japanese tea. Chinese green tea is pale yellow in color with almost no bitterness. (In fact, China produces a wide spectrum of teas – green, white, black, and oolong (often referred to as blue tea).)
For instance, around thirty years ago, the “green tea” served in French households resembled Chinese green tea and was quite different from the vibrant green color and aroma that Japanese people associate with green tea.
In fact, when I served authentic matcha to overseas visitors to Japan, it was often poorly received at the time. Many found its bitterness overwhelming and they asked for sugar to sweeten it.
I was surprised when a French guest told me, “I thought it was artificially colored,” because matcha was such a striking green.
HYOUGE: A Japanese Matcha Perfume Inspired by Tea Culture
The matcha perfume HYOUGE reflects the culture of Japanese tea and its aroma while inheriting the spirit of Furuta Oribe. It is deeply complex, yet possesses a perfect balance of freshness, bitterness, and flavor. You can enjoy the spirit of the tea ceremony and its aesthetics through its fragrance. HYOUGE is recommended to those interested in Japanese culture, and it has met with much overseas acclaim.
Praise for HYOUGE
Hyouge（旧：織部） received a prestigious 4-star rating in “Perfumes: The Guide III,” written by the renowned fragrance critic Luca Turin, often referred to as the “Emperor of Scent.” This high praise reflects the quality and allure of the fragrance.
PERFUME -HYOUGE-
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