Asuka, imperial capital of Japan, 594 AD
Suiko, the third daughter of the Emperor Kimmei has been acting Empress for nearly three years. All 32 predecessors had been male as tradition dictates and it was only after wars between clans and families that she acceded to the throne. She is the first woman to rule over the Empire of the Rising Sun.
The Empress stares out every morning from high up in her palace to the sumptuous gardens below her and every spring she delights in the cherry blossom carpeting the gentle slopes of the city with its petals.
Her elegance and the extreme refinement of her gestures are enhanced by a delicate fragrance that is at once subtle and alluring. Gardeners are given the daily task of altering her private walkway so that the overriding perfume changes with every day; very few are able to bring about these miracles of perfumery
With their experience and observations both in botany and in climatic changes, only a few people are able to conjure up and prepare the various essences to be blended. The imperial greenhouses are reputed to hide specimens of great rarity whose constant care is put in the hands of apprentice gardeners.
The Empress meets with her council to decide the affairs of the empire as, although her son the Prince Shotoku has been regent for a year, she still exercises considerable power. Among other qualities, the Empress is blessed with great open-mindedness, thus she plans to ensure that Buddhism becomes officially recognized in Japan.
However, her final decision rests upon the return of emissaries she has sent away to research the writings of the sutras. A letter arrives announcing their imminent return and the Empress is at pains to contain her impatience
She is hardly able to control her emotion when the emissaries report back that they have met with the master Hoyu in the city of perfumes, the exact place where the sutras of great wisdom have been studied since time immemorial. She is thus able to confirm her decision and the edict is declared in AD 594 officially recognizing Buddhism.
Her reign is marked by another remarkable feat: that of adopting a new constitution. The Empress is so utterly absorbed in reading all 17 articles that she is forced to give up her morning ritual. Added to this, her frequent trips prevent her from escaping into her favourite gardens.
Fortunately, a close adviser mentions to her one day that according Buddhist tradition, seven characteristics define both taste and scent: sweet, light, salty, sour, bitter, spicy and acid. This information inspires her to have made a perfume blending all the unique fragrances from the rare plants kept in Asuka’s greenhouses.
Months of trials prove fruitless, until her alchemist finally puts together the desired formula. From then on, Suiko wears this perfume, embodying her elegance, her origins and her most precious memories and whose fragrances of cherry blossom, ylang ylang, iris, vetiver, sandal, teak and tonka beans co-mingle like a string of precious beads.
When she dies in AD 628, the throne reverts once more to the male line and has been maintained thus until the present day.
It is said, however, that the Ökisaki, the name given to the Emperors’ consorts, have passed on the formula and that they continue to wear this same perfume, while exerting a certain influence in preserving the lineage of the only Empress.
The tradition which imposes a male Emperor may one day be revoked, as is the wish of the Japanese people; in which case the title would fall on the firstborn child.
Might we once again bear witness to the era of the Japanese Empress
