Take this surprising Japanese beauty tour at the Shiseido Corporate Museum

Visiting a corporate museum might not sound like Tokyo’s most compelling tourist activity. But in this instance, I would be inclined to disagree. For any beauty lover – or those with an interest in photography, graphic design, architecture, art direction or fashion, for that matter – Shiseido’s Corporate Museum is a must-see if you happen to be visiting the city this June and July.

The cosmetic company’s influence permeates the fabric of Japanese culture, both past and present. Every second person I met while in Tokyo recently had an affiliation with Shiseido in one way or another; from the creative consultant eating at Shibuya’s Narukiyo Izakaya to the video editor scream-singing Natasha Bedingfield’s ‘Unwritten’ in a karaoke parlour after a long day producing Shiseido’s social assets. Nowhere is this more felt than in the local beauty stores and pharmacies, such as Harajuku’s @cosme flagship or the chain drugstore Matsumoto Kiyoshi, where Shiseido’s offering dominates.

Founded in 1872 by Arinobu Fukuhara, Shiseido broke boundaries as Japan's first private, Western-style pharmacy. The consideration of scientific formulation combined with beautifully designed packaging is what first distinguished the brand, and is an equation that has stood the test of time. The founders were interested in using Western science, basing their products on pharmacological prescriptions. Japanese integrity and excellence in scientific formulations are consistently at the forefront of the beauty industry; it was the marriage between these approaches that propelled Shiseido from a local Japanese brand to a globally recognisable name.

‘Whether it is in the way a formula is created by our researchers, our editorial vision for a campaign or who we collaborate with to materialise dreams and ideas, Shiseido has been a pioneer in the beauty scene since 1872,’ says Valeria Baker, PR and social media group manager for Shiseido. The company marked its 150 years in 2022 by commissioning Neville Brody's creative agency Brody Associates to design a new Shiseido brand ‘code’, or identity, that reflected its past while looking to the future.

Situated in Kakegawa, a 90-minute Shinkansen ride out of Tokyo, the Shiseido Corporate Museum and Art House was originally built to mark the 120th anniversary of the company. When you arrive at JT Kakegawa station, I’d advise you to head to Komeda Coffee for an iced takeaway to sip on the 25-minute walk to the museum. The route itself is lovely, and very straightforward. But, if you’re pressed for time, a taxi will take under five minutes to get you there.

The museum is divided into two parts: to the left, the building curves round into a section that houses an art collection that the company has accumulated over the years. There is a permanent collection here as well as regularly changing exhibits. This award-winning space is called the Shiseido Art House, which first opened in 1978, built by architects Takamiya Shinsuke and Taniguchi Yoshio. It will be closed from 7 June to 4 September 2025, as it prepares for the second part of a special exhibition. But the sculpture park is open all year round and makes for a lovely meander, with works by the likes of Lee U-Fan. Plus, during the summer months, the garden’s horse chestnut and olive trees are in bloom.

To the right, the Shiseido Corporate Museum’s permanent collection charts the brand’s history with blown-up campaign posters, historical ephemera and a rolling film with adverts and archive footage, alongside antique and contemporary bottles of skincare and make-up. There’s a focus on the art nouveau and art deco styles that Shiseido is influenced by, plus the design and redesign of the logos, packaging and typography.

It’s particularly incredible to see how styles of calligraphy and imagery have evolved in Japan over the decades. The earliest advertising images used by Shiseido are on show, dating back to when the brand functioned as a local apothecary. Featuring kanji, katakana and hiragana calligraphy, the elegance of some of the fashion illustration within these 19th-century flyers is still visually appealing, as is the invitational style.

Highlights also include the midcentury section of the exhibition, a look at how the globalisation of the 1960s and 1970s brought new styles of fashion imagery into the beauty sphere. This leads seamlessly on to Serge Lutens’ tenure as creative director at Shiseido, between 1980 and 2000. Lutens’ advertising campaigns are known for their unique blend of avant-garde imagery with Eastern and Western aesthetics, and the library at the Shiseido Corporate Museum holds many of the finest examples of this.

The curation of items and images on display forms an archive of the visual representation of women and beauty in Japan, both as perceived by a local audience and as marketed to global audiences through shifting eras. An example of this is shown in Shiseido’s campaigns from 2015, when Lady Gaga fronted the visuals for the brand, capturing 50 selfies, which were then used as the major advertisements in various Japanese newspapers.

The displays of products – a chance to explore their provenance, dates and stories – are interesting as well as visually striking. In pride of place is Shiseido’s first product, Eudermine. Popular with geishas from its conception in 1897, the hyaluronic acid-based solution is still available to buy today. Seeing the evolution of the serum, with its packaging through the eras, from glass, bow-topped bottle to futurist vessel, well… after getting back into central Tokyo, I simply had to go and buy it for myself.

The Shiseido Corporate Museum is located at 751-1 Shimomata, Kakegawa, Shizuoka 436-0025, Japan. Opening hours are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays in June and July, 10am - 4.30pm (last entry at 4pm). The museum closes mid-August for summer holidays.