KOHSHI: Translating Japanese Instruments and Stories into Fragrance

Perfumery is not something you can do through intuition or flair alone.
Hidenori Matsuno (founder and perfumer)

Expressing a sharp note from a Japanese instrument with hinoki and its lingering resonance with rosewood. Layering the sweetness of strawberries with herbal scents reminiscent of absinthe. KOHSHI’s perfumes reveal ways of translating impressions of a subject into combinations and balances of fragrance materials.

For founder Hidenori Matsuno, bold ideas are supported by training: learning about fragrance materials and understanding how blending changes them. After becoming independent following work in sales and manufacturing, Matsuno has continued exploring the subtle expressions of scent in both the company’s own perfumes and commissioned development.

Contents

Key Information
The Founder and the Origins of the Brand
The Brand’s Commitments
References

Key Information

Brand name: KOHSHI
Founder and perfumer: Hidenori Matsuno
Operating company: Kohshi Co., Ltd. (established July 21, 2010)
Based in: Hadano, Kanagawa, Japan
Official website: KOHSHI

The Founder and the Origins of the Brand

From Cologne Costing a Few Hundred Yen to Work in Sales and Manufacturing

Matsuno’s introduction to fragrance was an eau de cologne bought at a convenience store for a few hundred yen as a teenager. It was a time devoted to soccer and dance, and wearing fragrance while being physically active lifted Matsuno’s spirits. Through that experience, perfume became an essential part of everyday life.

Starting at eighteen, Matsuno spent about ten years working in perfume sales and cosmetics manufacturing while also attending a perfumery school. Experience on both the making and selling sides provided knowledge of fragrance materials and blending techniques. In 2010, Matsuno became independent and established Kohshi Co., Ltd.

A Senior Colleague’s Support for Independence and Creating Fragrances in Hadano

One challenge in becoming independent was obtaining fragrance materials. Newcomers to the industry faced barriers to sourcing raw materials, and a senior colleague who valued Matsuno’s work but had opposed the move toward independence ultimately offered help. With support from others, the desire to create perfumes with a distinctive worldview and aesthetic developed into a business.

Kohshi built its business around fragrance development, OEM production of perfumes and cosmetics for other brands, and sales of its own branded products. Matsuno personally develops fragrances for commissioned products and composes KOHSHI perfumes. The work of refining the subtle expressions that perfume requires connects the company’s business with Matsuno’s own creative practice.

KOHSHI products are made in Hadano, Kanagawa, surrounded by mountains. The company handles everything in-house, from sourcing raw materials to composition, design, and manufacturing, turning concepts into finished products. By the time the Kyoto shop opened in 2025, it had a team of several in-house perfumers responsible for fragrance development.

Ruggedness and Delicacy Expressed in the Kyoto Shop in 2025

Matsuno became interested not only in creating fragrances but also in how people encounter them. The directly operated shops are named pallumer, combining the French words parfum, meaning perfume, and allumer, meaning to light or ignite. The name conveys a desire to ignite people’s hearts through perfume.

On March 22, 2025, the second directly operated shop opened in Kyoto, following the Daikanyama flagship. Matsuno’s first reason for choosing Kyoto was simply a love of the city itself. An affinity for a city where tradition and new culture coexist echoes the contrasts that Matsuno also values in fragrance.

I think everything is about balance.
Hidenori Matsuno (interview at the opening of the Kyoto shop in 2025)

Citing a balance like adding sweetness to something spicy, Matsuno describes the theme of creating fragrances as “the coexistence of ruggedness and delicacy.” The Kyoto shop translates that idea into its choice of materials: substantial black mill-scale iron alongside pale white ash latticework, and exposed concrete alongside glass bottles and liquid catching the light. Placing different textures side by side brings out the character of each.

Black mill-scale iron is iron with a black film left on its surface. The combination of a powerful material and delicate latticework allows visitors to experience in a space the strength and delicacy found in perfume.

A shop where anyone who comes to the Kyoto store can find a perfume of some kind.
Hidenori Matsuno (on the experience envisioned for the Kyoto shop in 2025)

Matsuno aims for a shop where both first-time perfume wearers and those seeking complex, idiosyncratic scents can make a discovery. The goal is to develop a brand with a rich variety, including gentle fragrances that are easy to coordinate with fashion.

The Brand’s Commitments

Knowledge of Fragrance Materials and Blending in Support of Free Ideas

Matsuno sees fragrance as having subtle differences and combinations, just as the sky cannot be painted in a single shade of blue.

Understanding how blending ratios affect the way a scent develops over time provides the foundation for turning free ideas into perfume.

KOHSHI has three series. The first, kohshi, conceives fragrances with Japanese skin, climate, and seasons in mind. L’Héritage translates Japanese traditions into fragrance, while kilesa does the same with a wide range of subjects and stories. The ability to vary its expression according to the subject is another characteristic of the brand.

kohshi: Nine Fragrances for Everyday Wear

The first series, kohshi, comprises nine eaux de parfum created for everyday use with Japan’s climate and seasons in mind. Its subjects range from birds and gemstones to the stage, the sea, and music. Presented in 50 ml sprays, it sits alongside L’Héritage, devoted to three Japanese instruments, and kilesa, whose stories continue to grow.

Siskin: A Small Bird in Flight

Siskin takes as its subject a yellow-green bird flying through the sky and the freedom of being unconfined. Lemon, bergamot, and grapefruit are layered with rose, orange blossom, neroli, and freesia. Lavender and basil sit between these elements, leading to musk, amber, raspberry, and cedarwood. Citrus brightness and musky sweetness express the bird’s lightness.

Sahara: The Expanse of the Desert and Spice

Sahara explores a vast, changing desert and the strength needed to face its natural environment. Lemon, orange, and bergamot are followed by black pepper, clove, and lavender. Rose and jasmine accompany cedar, patchouli, oakmoss, and sandalwood, supported by musk and amber. Black pepper and oakmoss give expression to the desert’s force.

Jade: A Gemstone’s Color in Flowers and Fruit

Jade depicts the color and mystery of jade. Lemon, apple, and leafy green notes open the fragrance, with lily of the valley and musk at its center. Rose, freesia, jasmine, ylang-ylang, and iris join the floral element, together with marine notes. Peach, melon, and amber in the drydown give the green subject a soft, fruity dimension.

Opera: Dressing for the Theatre

Opera’s protagonist is a woman looking through opera glasses from a privileged seat in the theatre. Rose conveys grace and jasmine dignity, wrapped in musk and vanilla. Mandarin, lemon, and bergamot provide a bright opening, followed by floral layers of lily of the valley, lily, ylang-ylang, and neroli. Patchouli and amber join the base, completing a portrait in flowers and sweetness.

Sakura: Walking beneath Spring Cherry Blossoms

Sakura expresses the happiness of walking along a row of cherry trees on a warm spring day, before something new begins. Lime, orange, and apple are layered with cherry blossom, rose, jasmine, lily of the valley, and violet. Cedarwood and hinoki, musk, amber, peach, and vanilla follow in the drydown. The cherry-blossom theme is built with other flowers, fruit, and wood.

Yacht: White Sails on the Sea

Yacht depicts a blue sea, a white yacht, and time spent yielding to the wind, with lime and melon expressing the sea’s breadth. Bergamot and apricot appear in the top notes; rose, jasmine, lily of the valley, freesia, apple, and leafy green notes occupy the heart. Raspberry and melon also appear in the drydown, accompanied by wood, musk, amber, and vanilla. It is a marine scene composed chiefly through flowers and fruit.

Raw: The Story of Ambergris Washed Ashore

Raw is inspired by ambergris washed onto a beach. Bergamot evokes a walk along a white-crested shoreline, layered with flowers including freesia, iris, and rose. Gardenia, jasmine, and tuberose also appear in the heart, leading to cedar, sandalwood, musk, and patchouli. Ambergris is the subject of the story, while the amber and musk notes in the product description help evoke a gift arriving from the sea.

Salpa: Imagining the Deep Sea

Salpa takes inspiration from the unknown depths rather than the sea’s surface. Amber and sandalwood form its axis, softened by white musk, with jasmine absolute as an accent at the heart. Lemon and eucalyptus open the fragrance, which also combines aldehydes, rose, pink pepper, lavender, and pimento, ending with musk and vanilla. Its woody, ambery approach differs from Yacht’s lime and melon despite their shared marine subject.

Jammin: The Overlapping Sounds of Improvisation

Jammin takes a jam session, with musicians’ sounds meeting spontaneously, as its subject. Yuzu, lime, and eucalyptus are paired with the herbs and spices lavender, cardamom, and rosemary. Rose, jasmine, marine, and ozone notes occupy the heart. Vetiver, sandalwood, and patchouli are layered with musk, amber, heliotrope, and vanilla. Citrus and herbs express the rhythmic exchange of sounds.

L’Héritage: Translating the Timbres of Japanese Instruments into Scent

L’Héritage: Three Fragrances Carrying the Resonance of Japanese Instruments

L’Héritage means inheritance or heritage in French. Drawing on gagaku and noh music, the series translates instruments’ histories, timbres, and the spaces created by their performances into perfume. It comprises Sho, Biwa, and Tsuzumi.

Sho: Lines of Sound Reaching Upward through Citrus and Green Notes

Sho draws on the elegance associated with the instrument’s other name, hōshō, and a timbre seeming to connect with heavenly light. Lemon and jasmine create a transparent, solemn space, crossed by fine lines of lime and green notes. The citrus-green composition uses brightness and green accents to express the delicacy of the instrument’s sound.

Lemon and lime open with eucalyptus, aldehydes, and green tea. The heart combines jasmine, freesia, and lilac with apple, cardamom, and marine notes. Sandalwood, cedarwood, patchouli, amber, vanilla, and heliotrope form the drydown. Beginning with the citrus and green notes that symbolize the sound, layers of flowers and wood build the space of a performance.

Biwa: A Melancholy Resonance in Iris and Leather

Biwa takes its subject from an instrument transmitted from Tang China to Japan and handed down in changing forms over time. Its melancholy resonance is the fragrance’s central concern. Iris expresses this quality alongside flowers and leather, with fruity accents, in a floral-leather composition.

Lemon, orange, and bergamot open with violet leaf. Iris, jasmine, rose, and leather occupy the heart, joined by apple, saffron, and thyme. Raspberry and peach also enter the drydown with musk, amber, vanilla, and vetiver. Fruit is not confined to the opening citrus; it also appears throughout the floral and leather structure.

Tsuzumi: A Sharp Strike and Its Resonance in Two Woods

Tsuzumi expresses the different sounds of the otsuzumi and kotsuzumi drums through two woods. Hinoki represents the high, sharp sound of the otsuzumi, while rosewood carries the lingering resonance of the kotsuzumi. The radiance of rose and jasmine accompanies the percussion’s role in supporting song and dance, forming a woody-herbal fragrance. One instrument name encompasses both the instant of the strike and the sound that remains afterward.

Hinoki appears in the top notes with lemon, bergamot, and lime; rosewood arrives in the drydown with sandalwood, amber, patchouli, and vanilla. The notes representing the two timbres thus occupy the beginning and end. Between them, the heart combines rose and jasmine with rosemary, lavender, nutmeg, freesia, and lilac. The fragrance moves through citrus and hinoki, flowers and herbs, then a rosewood-containing base.

Contrasting Sweetness and Herbs in Strawberries and Absinthe

kilesa: Desires, Memories, and Landscapes in Fragrance

kilesa is a collection aiming for 108 fragrances, based on scenes associated with worldly desires. With the hope of easing everyday anxieties and conflicts and bringing color to life, it ranges from graceful, delicate scents to complex, individual creations.

The product index listed 97 works on November 5, 2026, Japan time. Fruit steeped in liquor, jasmine picking, an unspoken classroom crush, a filling station after a luxury car has left: desires and memories become concrete scenes involving flowers, alcohol, machinery, and school life.

kilesa has introduced new fragrances at a pace of one a month. Kohshi develops fragrance materials and manufactures its perfumes in-house.

absinthe fraise: The Temptation of Strawberries and Absinthe

In the story of absinthe fraise, steeping strawberries in absinthe opens the way to an irresistible temptation. The fragrance brings together an appealing fruit and the symbolism of a forbidden drink. Strawberry is connected with the danger of attraction rather than treated as merely delicate sweetness.

Armoise, orange, and blackcurrant open the composition. Strawberry, rose, and geranium are joined by star anise and sweet fennel, followed by musk, amber, raspberry, vanilla, and tobacco. Herbs and spices over fruit sweetness, with tobacco added, bring strawberry and absinthe into a single composition.

anthology: Morning in a Jasmine Field

anthology depicts jasmine picking in the morning light, with flowers awaiting their opening. Wind passing through a field filled with the warmth of vegetation and the work of gathering flowers become one scene.

Bergamot, cardamom, and clary sage lead to jasmine sambac, lily of the valley, and gardenia. White pepper joins the floral heart, supported by musk, sandalwood, and styrax. Cardamom and pepper add spice to the white flowers, accompanied by the resinous note of styrax.

blackboard: The Person in Front of the Blackboard

blackboard is set in a classroom. From a seat at the back, someone pretends to look at the blackboard while watching the back of a person they like. Kindness and consideration for others are among the reasons for that attraction. The fragrance focuses on unspoken feelings for someone sharing the same room.

Bergamot, petitgrain, clary sage, and grapefruit open the scent. Geranium, rose, marine notes, and clove form the heart, followed by musk, vanilla, amber, and patchouli. Flowers and watery impressions join citrus and herbs, with sweetness from vanilla and amber.

filling station: The Trace Left by a Luxury Car

filling station places its scene at a petrol station. Red thyme and white thyme evoke the sound of an engine and the impression of petrol, while agarwood and amber suggest the car body’s sheen. Herbs, wood, and amber give expression to machinery and speed.

The two thymes open with lemon and buchu, followed by lavender, jasmine, carnation, and rose. Tobacco, leather, agarwood, amber, vanilla, and patchouli form the drydown. Multiple flowers accompany thyme’s distinctive character before tobacco, leather, and wood are layered in.

drip: From Coffee to the Life of Plants

drip connects extraction with drawing out the energy stored by plants. Citrus, flowers, and fruit join coffee beans in the story. Its subject is the relationship between plants grown in sunlight and the extraction that releases their scents.

Lemon, lime, and mandarin are combined with eucalyptus and lavender. Coffee appears in the heart with rose, jasmine, neroli, rosemary, and litsea cubeba. Musk, blackcurrant, peach, and fig form the drydown. Coffee meets flowers and herbs, followed by three fruits at the end.

irismoke: Early-Summer Japanese Iris with Tobacco

irismoke draws on blue-purple Japanese irises flowering in early summer and their association with bringing good news in the language of flowers. The floral subject carries the seasonal breeze and the feeling of waiting for a message, accompanied by tobacco.

Lemon, tobacco, and armoise open the fragrance. Wild rose, iris, jasmine, and geranium form the heart, followed by vanilla, musk, amber, and fig. Tobacco appears at the beginning, with flowers, fruit, and vanilla developing after it.

La Tomatina: Excitement and Hesitation at a Tomato Festival

La Tomatina takes Spain’s tomato festival as its subject. At its center is the coexistence of pleasure in throwing tomatoes and hesitation about wasting food. The story includes the small conflict of enjoying oneself despite that unease.

Tomato, grass, and grapefruit open the scent. Cinnamon, pear, lemongrass, rose, and cumin form the heart; musk, amber, peach, and almond follow. Fruit and spice intersect with the green freshness of tomato and grass.

fleeting glow: Bubbles Disappear, Time Remains

Released on October 24, 2026, fleeting glow depicts soap bubbles disappearing in the sunset. For a young girl, it is the end of an ordinary day; for her father, it is time that cannot be recovered. The same scene is seen through their different perceptions of time, connecting transience with a family memory.

Pink grapefruit, lime, and turmeric lead into marine notes, rose, osmanthus, and jasmine, followed by rum, musk, and vanilla. This floral-marine composition combines citrus and watery notes with flowers, ending in alcohol and vanilla.

Limited Edition about to pop: Before the Film Begins

Separate from the product index, about to pop is a Salon de Parfum 2026 exclusive. Its subject is a cinema before the screening and caramel popcorn. Toasted notes meet spice, leading to vanilla, musk, and amber. It was also scheduled for a limited-quantity presentation at the Kyoto Isetan event from November 11 to 16, 2026, and is not included in the 97 indexed works.