"And as it is the nature of Japanese to always have concern for other people's comfort, people opted not to wear scent and to 'bother' the passengers around them."

There is also a lingering sense among older, more conservative Japanese that wearing a scent is "flashy" and inappropriate in formal settings, such as the workplace.

This generation of Japanese is retiring, however, and being replaced by younger workers keen to express their individuality through the perfume they wear.

— Read more in Japan's youth break tradition by embracing perfume at DW.

Japan's environment ministry came up with a novel suggestion earlier this year for women sweating out the summer in hot, energy-scrimping offices. "Combat body odor,'' the ministry suggested in a tip-filled Web page touting its turn-up-the-thermostat campaign, "by using scented fabric softener.'

[...] The ministry's suggestion spurred action by groups such as the Chemical Sensitivity Support Center and the Society Demanding Fragrance Restraint, while bloggers raged about "secondhand Downy." The Japanese media has coined the phrase "sume-hara," for "smell harassment."

— In case you were wondering why perfume houses make lighter fragrances for the Japanese market. Read more at In Japan, Scented Fabric Softeners Wrinkle Some Noses at the Wall Street Journal.