Scent Designer Megumi Fukatsu: Creating Fragrances that Embody a Company's Essence

Have you ever been calmed by the subtle fragrance permeating the air as you enter an office, showroom, or airport lounge? Scents are often used as a means of corporate branding, as they are closely tied to people's memories and leave a strong impression.

Megumi Fukatsu, Scenting Designer, has been involved in branding and space design using such scents for many years. Fukatsu is known as a leading expert in scenting, having created scents for brands such as All Nippon Airways (ANA), Louis Paulsen, and Toyota's luxury car Lexus, and participated in numerous space design projects using scenting. [The aroma oil expressing ROUTE06's corporate philosophy, created as the second installment of "The Day One Box", which ROUTE06 offers to new employees, was also created by Fukatsu.

What does it mean to design a brand or space using fragrance, how is it developed, and what impact does fragrance have on people? We asked Fukatsu about the story of how he started working with fragrance.

Megumi Fukatsu Profile

Born in Hita City, Oita Prefecture, Japan,  Fukatsu spent her childhood in the great outdoors until the age of 18. After that, she entered the world of fragrance. He has been involved in the creation of "@aroma" since its launch, and has been involved in numerous kaori production and space design projects for ANA, Louis Paulsen, and others, both in Japan and abroad, for about 20 years. He also works as an aroma plant hunter to discover aroma materials in production areas. In recent years, he has been teaching at universities, giving lectures and seminars to spread this culture. Author of the book "Scenting Design - Kaori Shitsure".

Fascinated by the power of fragrance to heal the stresses of work

─ What sparked your interest in pursuing fragrance as a career?

One day, several years after I started working, I rediscovered the power of fragrance and remembered that I had actually been educated as a gifted fragrance specialist in my hometown. My first job after graduating from college was with an airline company, where I found it very rewarding to provide comfortable hospitality to customers. However, there was a time when I became tired of being surrounded by artificial things in the enclosed space of the sky and dealing with many customers.

Around that time, aromatherapy, a natural therapy using fragrance, came to Japan from Europe and was enjoying a bit of a boom. I was attracted to the idea that fragrances could heal people and became interested in it. When I opened the lid of a small bottle, I was surprised at how powerful the aroma was. I was really surprised at how powerful it was. ...... It was also very interesting to me that each plant essential oil has different effects. I felt relieved, calm, relaxed, and energized. ...... As I found myself being energized and healed by the fragrance, I became completely captivated by it.

I feel especially at ease when I smell the fragrance of wood. This is because I grew up surrounded by the scent of wood in my hometown of Hita City, Oita Prefecture. My father was in the forestry business, so the house always had a pleasant woody smell. I was unknowingly trained as a gifted child about the effects of having natural scents in a space at all times. I rediscovered this effect through aromatherapy and the scent of essential oils.

─ What made you decide to make it your life's work?

At first I enjoyed it as a hobby, but gradually I began to think that this might be my calling. When I thought about my future career, I wondered if the job I wanted to keep doing and that only I could do was really an airline job. On the other hand, I had a good nose for fragrance work thanks to the smell of trees, plants, and flowers that had always been around me since I was a child, and above all, I strongly felt that I wanted to spend my entire life working on and exploring this field.

─ Why did you choose to become an aroma space designer instead of an aromatherapist?

At first I studied aromatherapy and wanted to become a therapist. I studied to get an international license in the UK, and about half of the curriculum is anatomy and physiology. You learn about the human body in a very serious and deep way. Without learning that, you cannot learn aromatherapy. It was a year in which I learned deeply about the human mind and body and the effects of fragrance.

After I got my license, I was giving treatments as an aromatherapist, but gradually I started to see the challenges. ...... It is very rewarding to give a treatment to one person and see that person recover, but I began to wonder if I could reach more people with fragrance. If we had fragrances in spaces where many people gather, such as offices, train stations, and commercial facilities, more people would know the benefits and advantages of fragrances. I was also aware that the concept of having a designed fragrance in a space was not well known yet, and I strongly felt that I wanted to challenge the unknown realm of fragrance.

─ I was very interested in taking on a challenge in an unknown area of fragrance.

It is true that at that time, there was no method for designing fragrances to suit a space. I was taught by people who specialize in fragrance, and I accumulated knowledge and experience by thinking about what it means to design a space with fragrance and how to do it. As I did so, I gradually became able to give shape to these ideas.

I believe that we are here today thanks to the cooperation of various people, including those who taught me about fragrance and atAroma, Inc. ...... who have worked with us to develop equipment for the stable development of fragrance in a space.

─ There are many people in a space, and people have a wide variety of scent preferences. It may be difficult to design a scent that is pleasant for everyone.

I had zero doubts about whether everyone would think it was good or okay. But, for example, when you go to a forest where flowers bloom from season to season and you smell the fragrance, I think many people will see it as a positive thing. If it is a natural fragrance from plants, I am sure many people will find it pleasant. It is because of this conviction that I have been able to continue this work. In our daily lives, there are days when we are tired or sick. At such times, we would be happy if the pleasant fragrance wafting through the space could make you feel positive, like "I feel a little more energetic," or "I'm going to try harder.

Designing a space with aroma

─ What do you aim to convey when designing spaces with aromas?

I think that this is a story that leads to this question. Actually, there was a time when I wondered whether I should be a fragrance artist or a designer.

For example, I wondered whether I should make proposals based on my own style in the form of saying, "This is the kind of fragrance that would be good in a certain space," or whether I should propose fragrances through my own filter, tailored to the space and the people in it. As I continue my work, I have come to believe that what I want to do is "fragrance design," understanding the needs, desires, and necessities of the space and fragrance, and providing fragrances that match them.

─ Is there anything that is important to you when designing fragrances?

I place great importance on having a deep knowledge and understanding of the materials and ingredients that make up a fragrance. Fragrances are made from plants, and fragrance ingredients are extracted from trees, tree leaves, tree trunks, fruit peels, etc. The fragrance differs slightly depending on the place of origin and the year when the tree was produced. Furthermore, it also depends on where they grew up, who extracts them, and how they are extracted. Each is vibrant and organic and seems to send a different message.

Even in restaurant cooking, if the chef has an attachment to the place of origin of the ingredients, the way he makes use of them will be different, won't it? I think it is the same kind of feeling. I enjoy encountering plants as raw materials, so I call myself an "aroma plant hunter" and travel around Japan and abroad. I hope to someday appear on "Jounetsu Tairiku" (Continent of Passion) (laughs).

─ What kind of discoveries do you make while plant hunting?

What I find from my travels to various plant production areas is that there are still many things in the world that are not being utilized. I often hear things like, "It's a waste to use only the good parts and throw the rest away," or "The shape of the plant is bad, but its fragrance is irrelevant, so if it could be used instead of disposed of, it might provide additional income for farmers.

The other thing is our relationship with the people in the production areas. We often think together about how to produce plants from which good fragrances can be extracted. I am filled with gratitude when I get to know the producers. The fragrance business is only possible with raw materials, so it is not possible without a good balance between nature and people.

We must find ways to make the people in the space happy by having fragrances in the space. In order to realize this in a better way, the producers and I must be happy. With this in mind, I am constantly thinking about what we can do together.

─ What is the rewarding aspect of designing a space with fragrance?

I think the starting point of space design with fragrance is when the fragrance is created and spread in the space. The way we feel changes depending on the time of day and the season, so the challenge of how to make the space more attuned to the changing environment and people's feelings begins there. That is both challenging and enjoyable.

Representing a company or brand through fragrance

─ Fukatsu is also involved in "expressing" companies and brands with fragrances, such as the Lexus showroom and the ANA lounge. How did you come up with the idea?

At one point in time, marketing using fragrance became a big boom in the world. Since fragrance and memory are closely related, more and more companies started to use fragrance for brand recognition. The industry, especially in the hospitality industry, such as hotels, has experienced a boom in thinking about what kind of fragrance is unique to them, and creating a space that is unique to them and welcoming to their guests. As a result, the number of requests to express their company or brand through fragrance has been increasing, and I have been receiving more and more requests.

─ How do you approach designing a signature scent that embodies a company or brand?

First of all, we talk to the people involved to find out what kind of company or brand they are. This is the process of "research" that is indispensable when expressing a company or brand through fragrance. In the course of the interviews, we write down the keywords that are important to the company. We then consider what kind of fragrance would make the most sense to express these keywords - for example, sincerity, happiness, trust, progress, open-mindedness, etc. - through fragrance, and what methods are available for expressing them.

As we work in this way, we gradually begin to get a sense of "what kind of fragrance would best represent this company or brand," and we then put this into a specific fragrance. This process may be similar to the process of verbalizing an image. The process of verbalization is expressed in the form of fragrance.

─ Last year, you designed the scent for ROUTE06, a start-up company that develops products for the enterprise.

We were originally going to give ROUTE06 three prototypes of scents, but it just so happened that we ended up giving them six prototypes, the same as the company's name. The six fragrance elements were words that we often hear from our employees: future, diversity, excitement, happiness, and spontaneity. We did not try to narrow down these words, but included them in all of them. It is as if there are six different patterns among the different words.

─ What is the actual fragrance that you have created?

I used citrus scents for positive words such as "forward" and "exciting," and lavender scents for keywords such as "honest," "focused," and "kind. For the atmosphere of trust, honesty, stability, and security that we felt when we met with the employees, we used cedarwood and rosemary. I sympathized with the words that came out of the interviews, that the people of ROUTE06, with their rich individuality and diversity, weave something together as they form a team to do work that relates to society, and the scent was inspired by communication and connection, It is expressed with fresh orange.

I thought it was typical of ROUTE06 that they chose all of the scents, rather than narrowing it down to one from the prototype scents.

Designing and communicating fragrances that help people live comfortably

─ How do you want to convey the appeal of fragrance?

I design fragrances with the hope that they will make people feel happy and positive, and help them live comfortably, and I believe that fragrances have such power. I believe that each scent of a real plant has its own meaning, and I feel that I play the role of a guide to explore this meaning and deliver it to those who need it. As a scent guide and plant hunter, I want to be close to people's lives and sensibilities.

Writing: Sachiko Goto Photography: Hiroaki Otake