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, four years after the Meiji Restoration. 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.

The foundation of Shiseido laid over a century ago, its pioneering spirit that combines eastern aesthetics with western science and business technology, continues to live on today to serve as the underlying philosophy of Shiseido's corporate activities.

Shiseido Cosmetics (America) Ltd. was founded in 1965.