Shiseido's first fragrances, inspired by commonly known Japanese flowers such as the chrysanthemum, wisteria, plum, and evening primrose, were launched in 1918. A magazine advertisement from this year lists 21 different original fragrances. Fragrance formulation at Shiseido commenced after Shinzo Fukuhara assumed company management. Until this time, fragrances were either imports or poorly made copies. Shinzo's fragrances used Japanese scents and historians record this as the first real attempt to create perfume in Japan.

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