Insight4 min read

A Japanese forest scent at Haneda Airport.

Terminal 1’s new satellite is built from Japanese cedar, oak and larch. Since 1 October its corridor also smells like a forest: three blends, the southern forest, the northern forest and the Haneda forest, shift slowly as passengers walk to the gates. The airport operator tested the idea for three months at Terminal 2 first.

Written by the Shizen teamSources: Japan Airport Terminal and TS Aromatique, 24 September 2026 · Nikkei · SoraNews24 · PromotoolAll Insight articlesEnglish translation by the Shizen team of the original article in Japanese.
Long wooden corridor with timber roof trusses and moving walkways at Haneda Airport Terminal 1 North Satellite
The wooden corridor of Haneda Terminal 1’s North Satellite, scented with three forest blends since 1 October 2026. Photo: Japan Airport Terminal / TS Aromatique (press release).
3forest scents in one corridorTerminal 1, gates 24–29
1 Oct 2026scenting begana month after the satellite opened
3 monthsof trials before installationTerminal 2, April–June 2026

Haneda, Tokyo’s main airport, opened the North Satellite of Terminal 1 on 1 September 2026: the terminal’s first major expansion since 1993, with six fixed boarding bridges and an upper floor built from Japanese cedar, oak and larch.4 A month later its operator, Japan Airport Terminal, added a layer you cannot see. Since 1 October the connecting corridor and the gate 24–29 area carry three scents inspired by Japan’s forests, made from 100% natural aroma oils of Japanese plants.1 The aim, Nikkei wrote, is not only the passengers’ experience but also less stress for the people who work there.3

Three forests in one corridor

The scent shifts slowly on the way to the gate.

The blends are by TS Aromatique, Tomoko Saito’s scent studio in Shibuya, Tokyo. The “southern forest” uses hinoki, hōshō camphor from Kagoshima, sugi cedar and yuzu, and is described as strong and bright. The “northern forest” uses hinoki, Hokkaido todomatsu fir, hiba and Japanese mint: the green freshness of conifers in cool, clear air. The “Haneda forest” brings together the trees most identified with Japan, hinoki, red pine, spruce, sugi and yuzu.1 The three are laid out along the passenger’s path, from the connecting corridor to the gate lounge, so the scent changes slowly as people walk.2

The most interesting part is how the studio explains its aim. On Instagram its team wrote that scent is not “added” to a space but brought into harmony with the architecture, the wood, the planting, the light, the view and the movement of people. The target is a scent “just below noticing”: people merely sense trees nearby, and their breathing deepens a little without their realising it.5

A scent “just below noticing”: people merely sense trees nearby.
Tested first, then installed

Three months of trials at Terminal 2 security.

This was not a snap decision. Japan Airport Terminal runs terminal.0 HANEDA, an airport research hub where 36 companies, two organisations and two universities work together. From April to June 2026 they trialled scent at the Terminal 2 security area. According to the release, passengers rated it highly, and scent was judged to have the potential to create a comfortable airport experience and improve relaxation.1 Nikkei calls the installation in the new satellite one of the results of that research, and the two companies will continue it together.3

Shizen SBA2 in an atrium lounge with a wooden ceiling and green sofas
A Shizen SBA2 in an atrium lounge. Large rooms with wood and greenery are where forest and wood scents feel most natural. Image: Shizen.

The order is worth copying: test in one spot, measure how people respond, then install where the architecture supports it. The airport chose forest because the building is wood. Scent and material tell the same story.

Not only airports

Japan’s space-scenting business keeps growing.

Haneda is the most visible example, not the only one. Promotool, a Tokyo scent company with more than 4,000 corporate clients, reported that its “scent space design” sales in August 2026 were up 13.9% on the year, driven by demand from hotels, commercial facilities, showrooms and offices.6 In Indonesia, large public spaces, office-tower lobbies, malls, airports, hospitals, are where scent is least often designed, and where it is felt most when it is designed well.

What it means for your space

For lobbies, malls and large buildings in Indonesia.

1

Design for the journey, not for one room.

Haneda laid out three scents from the corridor to the gates. In an office tower the same path is the lobby, the lift lobby and the floor corridors. One family of scents along that path, at a different intensity at each point. For volumes this size, one SBV1 on the central air-conditioning covers up to 1,500 m².

2

Trial three months in one spot first.

Haneda’s operator tested at Terminal 2 security before installing for good. Start with the lobby or one floor, note what staff and visitors say, then extend. Shizen’s site survey and trial of two or three scents is a small version of the same step.

3

Choose a scent that tells the same story as the building.

Haneda chose forest because the building is wood. A marble-and-glass lobby suits a clean, slightly green scent; rooms of wood and plants suit forest and wood; clinics something softer still. The right scent feels like part of the space, not an addition.

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. Japan Airport Terminal Co., Ltd. (press release), 24 September 2026 (PDF): the areas, start date, the three blends and their materials, the April–June 2026 trial at Terminal 2 and the terminal.0 HANEDA membership are taken from this release.
  2. TS Aromatique (PR TIMES), 24 September 2026: the studio’s release on the three-forest concept and its layout along the passenger path. The corridor photo in this article comes from the same release.
  3. Nihon Keizai Shimbun, 24 September 2026: the stated aims (passenger experience and workers’ stress), the studio’s location and the link to the terminal.0 HANEDA research.
  4. SoraNews24, 28 August 2026: the North Satellite’s opening on 1 September 2026, cedar/oak/larch construction, six boarding bridges, first major expansion since 1993.
  5. Instagram (studio team post), 25 September 2026: the studio team’s post on scent “just below noticing” and harmony with architecture; quoted as the studio’s own statement.
  6. Promotool Co., Ltd. (PR TIMES), 18 September 2026: Promotool’s scent-space-design sales in August 2026 up 13.9% on the year; more than 4,000 corporate clients.
  7. Shizen is not affiliated with the companies, media or researchers named in this article; they are cited as sources.
  8. 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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