







Skin care would form the mainstay for many cosmetics manufacturers around the world and advertising promoted the notion that beauty began with the skin. In the 19th-century United States, there was already a fundamental distinction drawn between skin improvement (products that fostered a good complexion) and skin masking substances (makeup), with the former constituting part of a hygienic regimen critical to the morally invested notion of general bodily cleanliness. 6



Scented hair tonics and oils for both men (fuketori kōsui) and women (sukiabura) were among Shiseido’s most successful early cosmetic products. The company launched Hana Tachibana (Western brand name Laurine) for men and Ryūshikō (Western brand name Mellazerine) for women sold at 60 and 50 sen respectively and capitalized on the growing concern among Japanese that their hair oil was deemed malodorous by resident Westerners who complained of the smell.



Many of the products played on the imagery of the Ginza. Ryūshikō, for instance, evoked the image of the willow tree in the first character of its name to associate with the newly planted willow trees that lined the streets of the district. Hana Katsura (Western brand name Euthrixine), renamed in Japanese Hanatsubaki (Camellia) around 1909, was a scented hair oil for women that sold for a pricey 40 sen per bottle. Hanatsubaki was made of pure camellia oil and was advertised as not making hair sticky or dirty. One advertisement from 1911 touted that Hanatsubaki “vastly improves the nutrition and shine of your hair; does not cause cowlicks (kami no kuse), and helps keep hair’s good color until old age.” The product, it claimed, is “better than conventional/pre-existing products, does not cause dirty odors, keeps hair’s beautiful shine, stops hair from falling, and does not harm skin.” 7



Most Shiseido products had two brand names; one Japanese and one Western rendered in romanized letters. These are among the earliest domestically produced Japanese cosmetic products that used romanized Western brand names; Shiseido did this to appeal to consumers who were looking for imported goods. Thus it is no surprise that Shiseido benefited enormously from the marked decrease in imported goods to Japan after the beginning of World War I in 1914, which caused Japan’s economy, particularly the domestic production of consumer goods, to surge.



In 1906, Shiseido launched the first Japanese skin-colored powder called Hana Oshiroi (later renamed Yayoi Oshiroi). It was a non-lead based face powder which was considered healthier, as the poisonous effects of lead were already known in Japan, but lead-based cosmetics were not officially prohibited until 1931. Tinted face powders were exceedingly rare in prewar Japan and Shiseido pioneered them early on with a series of colors under the brand name Poudre de Riz.



The female entertainers (geisha) who worked in nearby Shinbashi and who were loyal Shiseido customers particularly liked the green and purple powder colors because they were thought to flatter the complexion under electric lighting. The powder packaging also diverged from the conventional round or cylindrical packages and used a tasteful octagonal container with the company trademark inlaid in gold that showed the nine leaves of the camellia blossom (see below). Gradually, as Japanese cosmetic practices changed over time and moved toward a greater naturalism, the traditional thick white cosmetic foundation (o-shiroi) ceased to be used for daily wear. 8





