The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Kawaguchirun takes its name from a place: Kawaguchiko, the lake region at the foot of Mount Fuji where Artepolé and PYE spent time that left a mark. The title itself is a portmanteau, Kawaguchiko plus Run, nodding to a morning jog along the water with the snow-capped volcano standing as backdrop. Released in 2023 as part of the artepolé x PYE collaboration, the fragrance translates that specific scene, alpine air, lake reflection, white peak, into something wearable. It's a memory bottled with a runner's pace: cool, steady, slightly breathless. The composition reads less like a Japanese countryside postcard and more like the body's sensation after a fast loop on a freezing morning.
What's unusual here is the juxtaposition of tropical and glacial materials. Pineapple and yuzu in the upper layers meet snow in the base, a deliberate clash between warmth and cold, between fruit that grows under equatorial sun and a mineral note that has no temperature at all. That tension does the heavy lifting. Fir needle and Virginia cedar hold the coniferous thread from top to bottom, making the whole thing read like a single landscape rather than a pyramid.
The evolution
The first twenty minutes belong to the air. Bergamot and yuzu cut clean, fir needle adding a resinous chill that makes the opening feel like stepping outside into five-degree weather. Then the fruit arrives, cherry tartness, pineapple's sharper edge, and the composition warms by a degree without losing its spine. Jasmine threads through quietly, more breath than bloom, almost like vapor rising off warm skin on a cold morning. By the two-hour mark, the cedar has taken over: woody, dry, slightly sweet from the Virginia variety, with the fir still pulsing underneath like a faint green hum you only catch when you lean close.
Cultural impact
Kawaguchirun was listed among the finalists for the Art and Olfaction Awards in 2024, an independent competition recognized within the niche perfumery world. That early external recognition placed the composition in conversation with a wider circle of independent work, offering visibility at a moment when the brand was still establishing itself. The collaboration with PYE also shaped the project's identity, bringing together two creative voices rather than a single author, and signaling an approach that values dialogue between perfumers.
