LIBERTA Perfume
Founded 2020
Perfumer Daiki Yamane, who learned perfumery under Satori Osawa of Parfum Satori, founded LIBERTA Perfume in Tokyo in 2020. Its Nakameguro Lab Perfumery puts the perfumers' workspace and production room behind a big glass front. Its own collections use Japanese themes and materials, and visitors can have a perfume blended for them on the spot.
Hours and prices change, so check with the shop before you go.
A Tokyo lab where perfumers blend in view
LIBERTA Perfume was founded in Tokyo in 2020 by its founder and perfumer, Daiki Y. After university he worked at a foreign consulting firm while learning perfumery from Satori Osawa of Parfum Satori. The name means freedom, and the house's stated aim is to democratise fragrance: it sells directly to customers, with no distributor in between.
Its perfumers are Japanese, and they make perfume to order as well as ready-made lines. The Personal Collection mixes clear single notes, and the Prêt-à-Porter line reworks Japanese materials and culture. For Matsurimatsu the team used red pine oil from Ina in Nagano. For Amanoume they used the leftovers of a craft plum liqueur from Minabe in Wakayama.
In Tokyo, go to its own Nakameguro Lab Perfumery at ContralE, 1-14-4 Aobadai, Meguro-ku. The lab sits behind glass, so you can watch consultations and blending. A full order means about an hour with a perfumer, from ¥17,000 for 50 ml, and you collect the bottle the same day; book ahead online. Some ready-made scents are also sold at @cosme TOKYO in Jingumae. Try Matsurimatsu first: it smells of a Japanese mountain forest, and 100 ml costs ¥11,000.
- MatsurimatsuRed pine oil from a three-generation forestry family in Nagano, with a matsutake mushroom accord that recalls deep mountain woods.
- AmanoumeUme plums from a Wakayama orchard, using the leftovers of a craft plum liqueur, with juniper and spice for the gin it is made with.
- NivalisThe warmth of skin in a snowbound winter, a white flower waiting for the thaw, with mimosa, a rice accord and musk.
- FructusRed maple leaves just before they fall, a woody gourmand scent with a dark maple accord and agarwood.
- Rain BlossomHydrangeas at an old temple in the rain, opening with the house's own accord for summer rain on damp earth.
Where to buy
- Nakameguro Lab Perfumery, ContralE, 1-14-4 Aobadai, Meguro-ku, Tokyo
- @cosme TOKYO, 1-14-27 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo (some ready-made scents)
In our city guides
- LIBERTA Perfume Nakameguro Lab Perfumery (Workshop, Tokyo)