I’ve loved perfume ever since I was a child. Whenever I travel, I’ve always made an effort to explore the fragrances of whatever country I happened to be visiting. My work now involves scents, and GINZA SIX is a place I find myself constantly visiting as part of that work.
GINZA SIX is an ideal place for exploring a panoply of perfumes, including fashion-oriented fragrances and traditional maison fragrances.
Of our five senses, smell is said to be the only one that acts directly on our instincts. A good smell, one chosen instinctively rather than through extended contemplation, has multiple powers, including the power to relax both mind and body.
Lingering over a scent you love sharpens your sense of what you need at that moment. I encourage you to go to GINZA SIX to encounter the fragrances your instincts have sought.

The first store I’ll visit today is #0107 PLAZA on the fourth floor, a select establishment adults will find fascinating and enjoyable. It carries a wide range of miscellaneous goods and food items, including unusual goods and handpicked items, and also offers a mini-café. It’s a great place to go looking for a present or souvenir gift that’s just right for the tastes of the person you have in mind.

Full disclosure: I selected the perfumes in the fragrance corner at #0107 PLAZA, focusing on scents that would trigger positive feelings, make the wearer more attractive, and bring them good fortune. Here you can find the scent you’ll take a fancy to.
All the fragrances I choose are perfect for layering on different areas of the body.
You’re encouraged to try out the layerings I’ve coordinated here. A great thing about layers is that you end up with a unique scent all your own. At #0107 PLAZA, the goal is to use perfume to make yourself “the only flower of its kind in the world.”

I also have a recommendation for people looking for gifts. If you’re on the fence about giving fragrance as a present, a wonderful alternative is these elegant charcoal “chocolates,” which are sold under the name “Sumi no Chocola” (priced before tax at 5,000 yen; all prices indicated as before tax hereinafter).
In addition to eliminating foul odors, charcoal is said to clean and purify the air. You can drop them in shoes or in bags or put them at the entrance to your home or in closets, where they absorb moisture and odors. Drip aroma oil over them—essential oils available just about anywhere—to scent the air around them.

I also supervised the production of the FUKUBISHI range of products in the skincare corner. I recommend moisturizing your body before applying fragrance: scent lasts longer on moist skin. The lotion contains trehalose, which helps block odors associated with aging. It’s an ideal deodorant for men and women of all ages.

I head next to La Maison VALMONT on the basement first floor. A popular brand back when I was working as a beauty writer, the Swiss brand sells luxury anti-aging cosmetics. The cosmetics developed at their clinic in Switzerland were first brought in by this brand. I’m pretty sure there’s no one interested in beauty who hasn’t heard of the brand. Their cosmetics are familiar to pretty much everyone.
They offer many effective products. I love using their cream. La Maison VALMONT brings back so many memories—for me, it’s a heartfelt reunion to rediscover them here at GINZA SIX.

La Maison VALMONT is known for skincare. Right now, though, I’d like to draw your attention to their perfumes. These mysterious scents evoke individuality; they’re bewitching fragrances that steal your heart away.

The perfumes make up a series, called Storie Veneziane, each scent inspired by one of five districts in Venice. One is Verdi Erba (the one with the green mask, which sells for 50,000 yen). The power of scent is the capacity to affect the mind, and this fragrance is fraught with indescribable mystery, one that illuminates the mind’s inner recesses. It’s a curious fragrance that takes hold in the memory of those who experience it and stirs the desire to experience it again and again.

It’s a fragrance that leaves others with the impression of an individual of exquisite taste. It persuades me I can transform my life.
It’s a worthy selection for those seeking to transform their lives, determined to move in a new direction. If you’ve felt these stirrings, you’ll find yourself gently supported by the power of this scent.

Another fragrance I fell in love with—or should I say, whose enchantment I fell under—is Pioggia Salata from Il Profumo (14,000 yen). It’s a great fragrance for the humid season that lasts in Japan from the tsuyu (the rainy season in June) through summer. The scent of ozone-salt quickly unfolds into a changing elegant bouquet, tempered by notes of palm and the sharp tones of eucalyptus. Each unfolding of the fragrance strengthens the salty notes and the scents of wildflowers like white laurel and musk rose.
It’s a gender-neutral fragrance ideal for both men and women. Pair fragrances are said to be lucky this year. It’s a scent I can recommend, one both men and women can wear as their summer fragrance.

My last stop is Salon des Parfumes, also located on the first basement floor. It’s an establishment one can’t overlook in any discussion of fragrance stores. It carries a full lineup of perfume brands, including Annick Goutal, Maison Francis Kurkdjian, and Penhaligon’s. It’s a great spot for those who love maison scents.
“Happy places have positive scents,” a renowned fortune teller told me recently. When I wear pleasing scents, I feel myself transformed into a power spot. I’ve had lots of wonderful personal experiences I chalk up to the power of fragrance.
To find the scents that will become your own good-luck charms, follow your instincts and make your selections based on gut feel. Salon des Parfumes offers so many fine fragrances you’re certain to find some you love.

Something else you should definitely try while here is a hand treatment (no charge) involving a body cream from your chosen fragrance line. Hand care based on a body cream with the same scent as your preferred fragrance is a brand new idea, and the sense of a pleasing scent enveloping your hands is pure delight.

The attractive scent and the effects of the hand treatment are deeply relaxing. The fragrance maintains a presence after the treatment, as if emanating from your hands…

Today, the series I choose is Maison Francis Kurkdjian’s Aqua Universalis (body cream: 11,000 yen; shower cream: 9,200 yen; fragrance: 19,600 yen). It’s one of my favorite scents. I’ve purchased it so many times I’ve lost count.

And, a new product I’d like to recommend is Annick Goutal’s Chat Perché Eau de Toilette (14,000 yen). The Annick Goutal brand offers numerous stylish fragrances with immediate appeal, one of the best known of which is Petite Cherie. This is the brand I turn to when I want to give off an impression of sweet and innocent appeal.
“Chat Perché”—the French word for the game of tag—expresses the same essence of wonderful childhood memories captured by this pure and delicate fragrance, which contains a multitude of notes ranging from sweet pea to lemon blossom.

Scent has the power to illuminate personal charms left dimmed under everyday circumstances. It has the power to make these charms shine.
At GINZA SIX, my hope is that all of you will encounter the scent your instincts have been searching for and that you will shine and glow in its aura as you wear it.

Text：Kazuyo Makino　photos：Koji Takanashi　Edit：Yuka Okada