R fragrance
Founded 2017
Perfumer Chihiro Murai launched R fragrance in March 2017 after working as a perfumer for a fragrance company. She plans, develops and composes every scent herself, and filling and production are done in Japan. Several scents carry Japanese names, such as Tsujigahana and Ichigo Mujou.
Hours and prices change, so check with the shop before you go.
Chihiro Murai's Japan in 50 ml bottles
R fragrance was launched in March 2017 by the perfumer Chihiro Murai. She studied fragrance materials and perfumery, worked as a perfumer at a company, then went independent. The R stands for three words: rin, a Japanese word for poise, rich and rare. Her interests include philosophy and psychology, and a Taiwanese beauty magazine notes that she brings them into her scents.
Murai plans, develops and composes every perfume herself, and production and filling are done in Japan. The scents draw on Japanese culture: a kimono dyeing art, Zen dry gardens, Meiji-era tea and a small wild orchid. The main eaux de parfum come in 50 ml bottles at 19,800 yen each.
R fragrance has no shop of its own. In Tokyo, smell it at the ambassador counter on the 7th floor of Hankyu MEN'S TOKYO in Yurakucho, or find part of the range in the fragrance area on the 3rd floor of @cosme TOKYO in Jingumae. Outside the capital it is at JR Kyoto Isetan and LUCUA 1100 in Osaka. Try Tsujigahana first. It shows the house's approach most clearly: a Momoyama-era kimono art turned into a unisex scent of grape leaf, wisteria and violet.
- TsujigahanaNamed after the tsujigahana dyeing art of the Momoyama period, a flower said to bloom only on kimono, with grape leaf, wisteria and violet.
- Ichigo MujouA strawberry followed from fresh to ripe to decay, used as a picture of one human lifetime.
- Black OudWabi-sabi and the dry stone garden, with the solemn agarwood called kyara set against the softness of ink-wash painting.
- Tea BreakAfternoon tea in the Meiji era, when Western customs reached Japan: Earl Grey, Darjeeling, rose and sugar.
- Noble OrchidShunran, a small wild orchid of Japan's gorges, with jasmine, lilac and cedar.
Where to buy
- Hankyu MEN'S TOKYO 7F (ambassador counter), 2-5-1 Yurakucho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
- @cosme TOKYO 3F fragrance zone (part of the range), 1-14-27 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
- JR Kyoto Isetan, 6F ISETAN MEN'S, Karasuma-dori Shiokoji-sagaru, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto
- LUCUA 1100 8F (Isetan Men's Style), 3-1-3 Umeda, Kita-ku, Osaka