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The Shiseido company name, which can be translated as "praise the virtues of the earth which nurtures new life and brings forth significant values", was taken from "Yi King", a Chinese classic written about 2000 years ago. Shiseido was founded in 1872. Arinobu Fukuhara, former head pharmacist to the Japanese navy, opened Japan's first private western style pharmacy on the Ginza, the cultural and fashion hub of Japan. Concerned with the poor quality of pharmaceuticals sold to the public, Arinobu opened the Shiseido Pharmacy to introduce western-style pharmaceuticals when herbal medicine was still mainstream. This avant-garde pharmacy, which was largely research and development oriented, grew to become one of Japan's oldest surviving companies.
In 1897, Shiseido entered the cosmetic business with the launch of Eudermine. While most cosmetics were made from natural ingredients, such as loofah, Eudermine was based on a "scientific" formula with high efficacy derived from western pharmaceutical theory. Shiseido's "red water" was periodically improved with scientific advances and finally re-formulated and re-introduced in 1997 as Shiseido Eudermine. Shiseido's basic strategy for business is multi-branding meaning that the company makes contact with the consumer through several brands including the Shiseido signature brand.
Shiseido group owns several international cosmetics brands as Clé de Peau Beauté, Jean Paul Gaultier parfumes, Issey Miyake Parfums, Narciso Rodriguez parfums, Déclore, Carita, Nars and Zirh along Shiseido. The Shiseido Group, including affiliates, employs approximately 25,200 people around the globe. Out of the 8,500 persons employed by Shiseido overseas, less than 2% are Japanese nationals demonstrating Shiseido's firm belief in and actualization of assimilation with the host country. Shiseido has 11 factories overseas as of June 2004. Shiseido is the 4th largest cosmetics company in the world, present in 60 countries in the world including 24 in Europe.
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