Tactics Shiseido 1978 Eau de Toilette

The truth of restraint becomes clear should we sit, take notice of our breath, and lean into discomfort until we embrace it.

Tactics is that feeling when the sun nourishes the greenest grasses and weeds, warms the pine sap, and sweetens the air. When first applied on the skin, an accord of galbanum, juniper, and bergamot greets the nose, as if to say "how do you do?" It's polite, but vibrant, and it sustains its major chord as a meditative hum. A clary sage and mint is evident as we reach the heart, with a classic moss-coumarin fougere dry down not far behind.

I am reminded of a more restrained Ivoire de Balmain or Aliage melded with elements of Paco Rabanne Pour Homme or Bogart Signature. However, it does have a sensibility of its own: a sense of poise and composure, as if one is standing at a reflection pool.

Hanging around a flea market in Milan, I had the chance to lose myself at a collection of perfume miniatures on sale. Each miniature for 2 euros.

The majority Of scents were cheapies from the 90s, so imagine my surprise when I also found a 10ml miniature of Tactics by Shiseido.

The perfume was also released in Europe for a short period of time in the 80s and soon got discontinued. In Japan, however, it’s still on Production and a fantastic bestseller. In Europe you could find a rare bottle for 300 euros, in Japan you’d find it in perfumeries or even Amazon for 40.

In Japan, Tactics is what Pino Silvestre is for the Italian or Pour un Homme de Caron for The french: The most used, iconic vintage cologne for men. It’s the smell of Japanese grandpas and uncles. I was so excited to try it myself and, luckily, the scent was perfectly preserved.

It’s obviously Classic fougère, but Not in the way you would imagine it to be. It’s Not straightforward barbershop. It’s a very green, slightly minty, floral which dresses elegant and ethereal. Cold, sharp Galbanum is the real star: imagine N.19 by Chanel or Ivoire by Balmain.

Truly poetic and subtle, smells like spring.

Interesting that Shiseido has launched only 3 ½ men's fragrances on the German market since 1959.

First, we have the brand new Zen for Men White Heat this year, a spin-off of Zen for Men (2009).

Before that, in the 90s, there was the absolutely dreadful Basara, which, after a legal dispute with Guerlain over a name similarity to Samsara, was soon allowed to be called only Basala.

And long before that, in the late 70s, Shiseido came out with Tactics, about 20 years after the introduction of the women's fragrance Inoui.

I must admit, until recently, Tactics meant nothing to me, and I have no idea if I have ever seen this fragrance in a perfumery.

At this point, a big thank you to Chanelle, who enabled me to get to know this fragrance and to engage with it more intensively.

However, my Tactics is already a few decades old, and I have no comparison to a fresh bottle from 1979. But since even my miniature is lightproof and the fragrance shows no typical signs that it has "gone off" in any way, I assume everything is as it should be.

Tactics starts soft like a hand cream and slowly unfolds with an intensifying spiciness. I think a nice greeting to clary sage and thyme. However, the citrus component mostly passes me by. It probably had to lose quite a bit of aroma over the years.
Then it gradually becomes softer again.

Overall, Tactics is a fragrant contradiction. Velvety soft at the beginning, spicy and scratchy in the middle, and then again reconciliatory and cuddly. As if you were wrapping a fir branch in a cotton ball.

And I must say: whether intentional or coincidental - this Tactics has something! It is at least original and not something you find on every corner these days.

Yes, it is indeed strange with Shiseido men's fragrances. They don't come often, and they don't always come out well. But with Tactics, they have shown what potential the brand can have. Why it is no longer produced is a tactic that remains unclear to me.