Hidenori Matsuno

About Hidenori Matsuno

Hidenori Matsuno is a Japanese perfumer and the representative director and master perfumer of Kohshi Co. He creates the company’s KOHSHI, L’Héritage and kilesa fragrance collections while also developing fragrances for other businesses. His work takes place in an environment that brings fragrance composition and perfume manufacturing together, giving him practical involvement in how a formula becomes a finished product.

Career

After high school, Matsuno studied at a specialist perfumery school before building roughly ten years of experience in fragrance sales and cosmetics. His career included work at LUSH before he established his own company in 2010. He developed fragrance and cosmetic manufacturing operations, then opened the pallumer shop in Daikanyama in 2021. A second shop in Kyoto followed in 2025, expanding the setting in which visitors could explore his work.

Creative Style and Philosophy

Matsuno deliberately avoids making a favourite ingredient or a recurring accord the signature of every composition. He emphasises understanding each material’s character, including those a perfumer might otherwise prefer or avoid. Control over his own development and manufacturing facilities supports that approach. Rather than keeping to a narrow house style, he explores differences between landscapes, sensations and emotional states through a wide range of fragrance materials.

Signature Works

• *A Cigar Stub* — A kilesa composition built around tobacco smoke, pepper, leather and resinous depth.
• *Sakura* — A KOHSHI perfume suggesting the warmth and optimism of a spring walk beneath cherry trees.
• *Sho* — Citrus and jasmine connect a clear, solemn fragrance with the sound of a Japanese instrument.