Their sense of smell is unique in that it's been honed through centuries of analysing scent through the mouth. In an incense tradition called kodo that has become a game of sorts, one swallows the scent, then describes the taste in terms of bitter, sour, spicy, savoury, and so on. This heightened awareness of smell is why it's considered rude to disrupt the balance of flavours by wearing perfume to a sushi restaurant, and why Bernardin says the Japanese prefer their products be fragrance-free, or with delicate notes they can easily taste, like citrus or rose. And sound is never an afterthought, either, in product development. "Noise is a symbol of quality," says Bernardin, who points to the clicking sound a lipstick should make when you cap it, like Shiseido's Rouge Rouge does. "It means it's closed, it's not going to open and spill in your handbag — there's no risk."