Tokyo is not a perfume-mad city. You won’t catch whiffs of elusive scents as you go travel the Metro system; in the department stores you’ll struggle to find more than the mainstream Chanels and Guerlains, with a small corner set aside for a selection of other, well-known scents.
Given Tokyo’s lack of enthusiasm for fragrance, Le Labo’s decision to open a boutique seems brave to the point of madness. However, they’re hoping to persuade the Japanese that scent can be fascinating, and the area they’ve chosen for their store — Daikanyama — is one of the most chic and boho areas of the city. It’s a place full of small, uber-trendy shops and restaurants, the kind of place you’d find Sienna Miller shopping for clothes. In the south-western part of the city, it’s the place where many foreign embassies are located…
