We want everyone to feel happy by wearing our fragrances. If you mix a fragrance with the scent of something you enjoyed, something that made you happy, something you ate, or a plant that was around at the time, it will bring back those uplifting feelings. If a seasoned couple can create a fragrance that evokes the burning love they felt when they first met, their perfume will deepen the connection between them today!
Miya Shinma
Perfumer History
Born in Shizuoka Prefecture in 1970, Miya Shinma graduated from Kyoto University of Foreign Studies with a degree in French and began working as a clerical worker at a general company that her father had introduced her to. She was fed up with repeating the same thing day after day.
It was then that she casually opened the magazine “Frau” at home and found an article on Edmond Roudnitska. His words sparked her interest in the perfumery profession, and during a trip to Florence in 1995, she was introduced to Lorenzo Villorezzi, a local perfumer, by a hotel staff member. This was the very moment when Ms. Shinma, who had hardly ever even worn perfume before, was awakened to the world of perfumery.
After graduating from college, I worked in my parents’ home in Shizuoka Prefecture in a general corporate office job. Although it was very rewarding, I began to have doubts about the repetitiveness of the same routine. Then I came across a magazine that featured an interview with a perfumer from overseas, who said, “A perfumer is like the conductor of an orchestra“. I had a gut feeling that this was it. Perhaps it is because I have been familiar with the piano and composing music since I was a child. Perhaps I was attracted to the idea of a perfumer who plays music with fragrances.
Miya Shinma
Ms. Shinma, who had been playing the organ and piano and composing music since the age of three, could not get her mind off the above sentence and attended a perfume school located in Omotesando, Tokyo. However, her desire to study in France, the home of perfume, remained, so she wrote a letter to Mr. Lorenzio, whom she had met on a trip to Italy, and he introduced her to his master’s school. That was Cinquieme Sens.
In 1997, she began her studies at Cinquieme Sens, a perfumery school in Paris, under its founder Monique Schlienger, as the school’s first Japanese student. She was one of the great perfumers, having studied under the great Jean Carl, worked for Robertet, and was a teacher at Isipca!
I naturally felt the desire to introduce Japan through fragrance.
Miya Shinma
Ms. Shinma launched her own brand, Miya Shinma Parfums, in 1999, creating perfumes that serve as a bridge between Japanese and French culture and traditions, and also writing books to introduce more people to perfumery.
I have learned since my studies that it is more of a training than a talent to be able to distinguish between fragrances. I can distinguish between hundreds of different fragrances, and my study of fragrances does not end when I finish school; I am still on the lookout for new fragrances.
Miya Shinma
Seeing, feeling, and traveling to different arts and cultures is also important for making perfume. If there is a great stage performance in Paris, I fly there immediately. I admired French perfumers who led such a life. Also, to combine invisible scents and complete an invisible fragrance, you have to believe in yourself and be strict. I feel it is a very difficult job.
Miya Shinma
Miya Shinma Parfums
You make your own perfume formulation. I give it to the contracted perfume company, and they make the perfume ingredients according to the formula. I check to make sure that the fragrance is mixed according to the formula, and if there are no problems, the perfume company manufactures my perfume. From there, the products are delivered to the countries where I have them sold.
Of course, I choose a reliable company. Even so, I always keep an eye on things to make sure everything goes without a hitch. This is different from Japan. It is not like Japan, where packages delivered to the atelier often fail to arrive.
Miya Shinma
Brand History
Ms. Shinma, who was thinking about her own brand while attending Cinquième Sens, came up with the idea of the Hyakunin Isshu, a set of 100 poems, in response to questions from French people about Japan and the Japanese language that could be easily understood by people from other countries. She chose a phrase from the Hyakunin Isshu poem, wrote her own poem to match the phrase, and imagined the fragrance from the poem to create the brand’s first three fragrances, “Flower,” “Moon,” and “Wind.
When she created the brand in 1998, she started selling her products at Bon Marché in Paris in 2000, which is considered the first department store in the world. The reason why she was able to sell at Bon Marché was because of the success of her custom-made perfume event at Bon Marché.
In fact, she had initially named her own brand “Fin Fleur” (“good flower”), but people did not call her brand name and called her name Miya Shinma, so her own name eventually became the brand name.
The packaging at that time was in the form of a paulownia wood box containing the perfume, which embodied a Japanese appearance. On the bottle, the name of the perfume is written in calligraphy on a half-sheet of paper. The name of the perfume was written on the bottle in calligraphy on a half-sheet of paper, which Ms. Shinma remembered from her childhood calligraphy lessons.
The more I learned about the world of perfumery, the more I realized the significance of studying in France, the home of fragrance. I felt it was important to study in France, the home of fragrances, because it is necessary to be familiar with the growing conditions of plants, which are the raw materials for precious fragrances, as well as global trends.
Miya Shinma
In fact, Ms. Shinma, who was temporarily inactive, will resume her activities and rebrand in 2015. The packaging has been changed from the previous paulownia wood box to black lacquer. This change was made so that French people would feel more Japanese.
Commitment
Miya Shinma is divided into three perfume categories and a category called Perfume Amusements (Plaisirs Parfumes). They also take orders for custom-made perfumes from companies and individuals.
Purchasers can have their perfumes wrapped in kimono cloth. The stores that handle this service even provide training in wrapping.
Collection Héritage
The collection was created around the theme of Japanese beauty and traditional Japanese culture. It consists of the following 10 fragrances, including the brand’s first three perfumes. The names of the perfumes are designed with letters that depict meanings, and the Japanese names are basically chosen because of the characteristics of the letters and the beauty of their sound.
- YUKI
- HINOKI
- TSUKI
- MIZU
- SAKURA
- TACHIBANA
- TSUBAKI
- KAZE
- FEUILLAGE VERT
- HANA
Collection KIMONO
This collection was created as a tribute to the Kimono, a traditional Japanese costume, and consists of the following four items. The beautiful colors of the kimono and the stories behind them are expressed in the fragrances. The main ingredient is incense, as people used to burn incense on their kimonos in the past. The bottle is jet black with an antique kimono label, and the package is wrapped in thin gold paper.
- Kimono Sakura
- Kimono Hinoki（Japanese Cypress）
- Kimono Kaze
- Kimono Yuki
Collection L’Eau de Miya Shinma
This collection was created as a tribute to Ukiyo-e and consists of the following six pieces. The theme of the collection is “enjoying the moment” and depicts the lively atmosphere that Ukiyo-e exudes. Unlike the other collections, the labels are simple bottle designs with classic colored calligraphy.
- RURI
- YAMABUKI
- KIKYO
- MATSUBA
- MOMO
- KOUZOME
Plaisirs Parfumes
Meaning “amusement,” this collection deals with a variety of objects that have been used throughout history for the enjoyment of fragrance. The collection consists of four types of incense: Perfumed Folding Fan, Perfumed Pearls, Kokoroba, and incense.
- Perfumed Folding Fan
Based on Japanese paper and bamboo, this scented fan was created by traditional craftsmen in Kyoto. The colors are beautiful and the fragrance spreads with each swing, and there are three different scents. - Perfumed Pearls
Also called a scent bag, the bag contains scented balls. - Kokoroba
The card is made of Japanese paper with scented petals and comes in four different scents. - Incense
This incense is molded in the shape of a flower and comes in five different scents.
Other
In 1998, at the same time as the brand was founded, a perfumery school called Ateliers Arome & Parfums Paris was also established. Together with this, they have also established Arome & Parfums Paris, a prestigious perfumery, where you can buy high quality fragrances selected by perfumers.
*The perfumery school is currently inaccessible. Perhaps the school is closed.
The description of the fragrance I am putting in front of you is short, but there are many of my thoughts that are not written there, and the process of searching for them is long.
Miya Shinma
Books
It is unfortunate that most Japanese people choose perfumes because they are fashionable or trendy. That is why I write books about the world of perfume and sometimes hold exhibitions in Japan. I want to tell people that there is a wonderful world of perfumes in this world.
Miya Shinma
Perfumery is an art. There are no qualifications for perfumers, just as there are no qualifications for composers. Perfumers are artists, and that is the position in France.
Miya Shinma
・恋は香りから始まる
・パリのレッスンー夢をかなえること、自分らしく生きるということ
