[2] Mitsouko is preserved in its original 1919 formulation in the archives of the Osmothèque, donated to the collection by Guerlain in-house perfumer Thierry Wasser.

[5] It was a favorite fragrance of Charlie Chaplin, Ingrid Bergman, Jean Harlow, Sergei Diaghilev, and Anaïs Nin.

One account of the origin of the name is that it was inspired by the name of the heroine of Claude Farrère's novel La bataille (The Battle).

The novel is set in Japan during the 1905 Russo-Japanese War, and chronicles a fictional amour fou between a British Navy Officer and one "Mitsouko", the wife of Fleet Admiral Marquis Yorisaka.

Both Yorisaka and the British officer sail to war, and Mitsouko awaits with reserve to see which of the two will return alive to her.