Insight4 min read

One scent for the whole group.

MUFG chose it by a vote of employees and customers. NEC designed five aromas for its employees’ desks. S.T. has made workplace scent a line of business. The Japan Times reported it on 24 September.

Written by the Shizen teamSource: The Japan Times (a Jiji report), 24 September 2026All Insight articlesOriginal article in English. Also available in Bahasa Indonesia and Japanese.
Shizen SBX1 on a wooden work desk next to a laptop, an employee working
A Shizen SBX1 on a work desk. At NEC, employees keep their aroma at the desk and pick it for the day’s work. Image: Shizen.
1scent for the whole groupMUFG, Tokyo
90%of voters liked itMUFG employees and customers
5aromas on employees’ desksNEC, designed with AI

On 24 September The Japan Times reported a new wave among Japanese companies: fragrance used as part of brand strategy and as a way to build a sense of unity among employees.1 Not an ordinary air freshener — a scent chosen deliberately, the way a logo is chosen. The reasoning is simple: smell is intuitive and memorable, so a consistent scent helps shape a company’s image while making the workplace pleasant.

One scent for one group

MUFG chose its scent by vote.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Japan’s largest financial group, adopted a signature scent — named “MUFG Fragrance” — as part of its effort to create a comfortable workplace and strengthen its brand strategy. The chosen scent is fresh and forest-like. It came through from three finalists by a vote of employees and customers; nine in ten voters liked it.

From around October the scent fills the reception areas and other spaces of MUFG’s Tokyo head office; branches are being considered. The interesting part is not only the outcome. Ahead of a new headquarters in 2030 that will house the group’s bank, trust bank and securities arms, representatives of each company held long discussions to pick one scent together — the process itself was used to build a sense of one group.

Fragrance treated like a logo: one scent, consistent in every space a customer enters.
A scent chosen for the day’s work

NEC designed five aromas with its own AI.

NEC took a more technical route. It trained its generative AI on employee behaviour guidelines and photos of its work areas, then had a perfumer refine the AI’s proposals into five aromas. Employees keep the oils on their desks and pick one to suit the day’s work.

Shizen SBX1 close up on a marble table
The Shizen SBX1 — a small battery-powered unit, no cable: boutiques, clinics, meeting rooms, reception desks. Image: Shizen.

In NEC’s internal survey, about half of the employees who used them said their work efficiency had improved.1 Convincing enough that NEC is considering developing and selling original fragrances to manufacturers and transport companies.

Not just two companies

S.T. made it a growth area.

Household-products maker S.T. lists fragrance-based workplace management as one of its growth areas and is developing original aroma oils for local governments and businesses. In other words: in Japan, scent at work has moved from a nice touch to a budgeted programme.

What it means for your space

What to borrow from Tokyo.

1

Fragrance is part of identity, not air freshening.

MUFG treats it like a logo: one scent, consistent in every space a customer enters. Offices, showrooms and clinics in Indonesia can do the same — guests remember how a space felt long after they forget what was in it.

2

Let employees choose.

Ninety percent of MUFG’s voters approved because they were involved. We suggest the same: try two or three scents in your space before deciding.

3

Start with the rooms people pass through most.

Reception and lobby first, as MUFG did. For a whole office floor, a unit connected to the central air-conditioning — SBA1 or SBV1 — carries the scent from a single point. For a meeting room or reception desk, one small battery unit (SBX1) is enough.

How Shizen does it

A Japanese brand, rented monthly.

Shizen is a Japanese brand — by Botanica Fragrance Japan — with more than 100 fragrances, including a series inspired by five-star hotels. The system is rented monthly: machine, installation, fragrance oil, regular servicing and unit replacement included, minimum contract 12 months. A free site survey, no commitment.

Portable · SBX115–30 m²Rp597,000 / monthboutiques, clinics, meeting rooms, reception desks
Cozy · SBA181–200 m²Rp998,000 / monthrestaurants, showrooms, retail floors, gyms
Prestige · SBA2201–300 m²Rp1,186,000 / monthhotel lobbies, executive offices, flagship boutiques
Calculate my spaceAsk on WhatsApp

Plan prices as of September 2026. All six plans, up to 2,000 m², are on the home page.

Shizen SBA2
Sources and notes

Where these figures come from.

  1. The Japan Times, “Firms turn to fragrance to foster employee unity and brand strategy”, 24 September 2026 — a Jiji news agency report. The survey figures (90% of MUFG voters; about half of NEC’s employees) and the company statements are as reported there, not Shizen’s own measurements.
  2. Shizen is not affiliated with the companies, media or researchers named in this article; they are cited as sources.
  3. The effect of a scent on a space depends on the room, the intensity and the fragrance chosen. That is why we always start with a site survey and a trial of two or three scents.
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