Tag Archives: CosmeTokyo

Retail notes from Tokyo: [Show Report] Cosme Tokyo 2023

Cosme Tokyo 2023 was my first in-person Cosme Tokyo since the pandemic. The 2022 show actually took place offline again but back then travel to Asia was still impossible for Europeans, so I attended Cosme Tokyo 2022 digitally. Cosme Tokyo 2021 was a fully digital show as well. And here are the links to the 2020, 2019 and 2018 shows, if you’re interested.

Cosme Tokyo 2023 was smaller than its pre-pandemic editions. Then again, this has been the case with every international beauty trade show that I’ve attended over the past nine months (from Cosmoprof Bologna 2022 over Vivaness 2022 to Cosmoprof Asia 2022). I think it’ll be a few more years before these global trade fairs return to normal again.

Quite a few of Cosme Tokyo’s regular Japanese exhibitors didn’t attend the show this year, and the Chinese exhibitor contingent was also much smaller than usual. So was the number of European and US/Canadian brands, by the way – I only saw a half dozen or so non-Asian beauty companies at the fair. Still, it was a super interesting Cosme Tokyo and I was incredibly happy to be back at Tokyo Big Sight.

Halls (10)

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Cosme Tokyo 2022: [Show Report]

The 10th edition of Japan’s largest beauty retail show Cosme Tokyo took place from 12th to 14th January 2022 at Tokyo’s Big Sight Expo Centre.

Unlike last year’s event, Cosme Tokyo 2022 was not a hybrid show; it was held completely offline but luckily organizers RX Japan (formerly Reed Exhibitions Japan) had provided a detailed exhibitor database and digital product showcase. There were even two live-stream segments from the show (which were so much fun to watch!) so I attended from a distance, as per usual these days.

If you’re interested in checking out my previous trade show coverage, here are the links: Cosme Tokyo 2021, Cosme Tokyo 2020, Cosme Tokyo 2019, Cosme Tokyo 2018 and Cosme Tokyo 2014.

Cosme Tokyo LEAD

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Cosme Tokyo 2021: [Show Report]

The 2021 edition of Japan’s largest cosmetics trade fair Cosme Tokyo took place as a hybrid event, with the offline show held in Tokyo’s Big Sight exhibition centre from 13th to 15th January.

The online version of Cosme Week Tokyo 2021 (which comprises Cosme Tokyo, Cosme Tech, Inner Beauty and Esthec Japan) opened a few days earlier and the digital exhibition booths stayed up for another week or so after the offline fair had closed. Since the pandemic is still raging over here in Europe I visited the digital edition of Cosme Tokyo 2021.

There were some 200-odd companies at Cosme Tokyo, Inner Beauty and Esthec Japan and around 150+ exhibitors at Cosme Tech. Smaller than the usual Cosme Week Tokyo shows but still impressive. According to organisers Reed Business Japan, 10,468 visitors attended the offline edition of the fair.

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Retail notes from Tokyo: [Show Report] Cosme Tokyo 2020

I was in Tokyo recently for the 8th edition of Japan’s largest retail cosmetics trade show: Cosme Tokyo 2020 took place from 20th-22nd January at Makuhari Messe. The trade fair had relocated from Tokyo Big Sight exhibition centre to Makuhari in Chiba prefectures a few years ago – in 2021, however, Cosme Tokyo will return to Tokyo Big Sight.

Anyway, Makuhari Messe is around 40 minutes by local train from Tokyo Station – i.e. good transport connections if you’re staying in the Chiyoda area. I had booked my hotel in Kanda (one stop away from Tokyo Station) so my daily commute to the trade show was very manageable.

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Retail notes from Tokyo: [Show Report] Cosme Tokyo 2019

Cosme Tokyo is getting bigger and better every year. The 2019 edition of Japan’s largest trade show for retail cosmetics featured 780 exhibitors from 35 countries. And over 25.000 visitors attended during the three days of Cosme Tokyo and its sister fair, Cosme Tech.

It was one busy and very cool show! My Insta feed shows almost 30 mini brand/product profiles which is usually my Cosmoprof Asia average! Anyway, it was an exciting trade fair: I met a lot of interesting new brands (and some old favourites). And if you’re interested: here is my Cosme Tokyo 2018 show report.

For more on my favourite brand discoveries and the key trends at Cosme Tokyo 2019, click on the link below!

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SPC Magazine: Cosmoprof Asia 2017, Cosmetokyo 2018 and Germany Country Profile 2017

Here are the PDFs of my three most recent articles for SPC Magazine: show reviews of Cosmoprof Asia 2017 (February 2018 edition) and Cosmetokyo 2018 (April 2018 edition), plus one of my favourite SPC repeat assignments: Germany Country Profile 2017; a round-up of what’s been happening in the German beauty retail market over the past year!

I’ve just consulted my files and this is my ninth Germany retail report (2006-2009 and then again 2013-2017). Wow. Back in 2006/2007, department store chain Karstadt was still called Karstadt Quelle, perfumery retailer Douglas still belonged to the Kreke family and drugstore chain Schlecker was still an aggressive force in the German drugstore channel. How times have changed…

Anyway, enjoy the articles. Copyright: HPCi Media.

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Retail notes from Tokyo: [Show Report] Cosme Tokyo 2018

I just returned from Cosmetokyo, Japan’s biggest C&T trade show. My last Cosmetokyo visit was four years ago; Cosmetokyo 2014 actually was my very first Asian trade fair! Back then, Cosmetokyo took place in October which worked well with the dates for Cosmoprof Hong Kong (mid-November).

Anyway, over the past three years Cosmetokyo has continued to expand in terms of exhibitor and visitor numbers; in 2015 the trade show date was shifted from October to January and after Tokyo Big Sight exhibition centre became too small for the trade fair, Cosmetokyo moved to Makuhari Messe convention centre in 2018.

Cosmetokyo 2018, the 6th edition of the trade show, took place from 24th-26th January. The first day was a little disorienting; the trade fair has changed so much in the last few years. In 2014 the exhibitors were primarily from Japan and it was very much a domestic showcase.

At Cosmetokyo 2018, however, more than a third of the trade show’s exhibitors came from outside of Japan, and there were many country pavilions and international companies that it took me a while to find my bearings. But then I did and I enjoyed the trade fair tremendously, meeting exciting new brands and re-discovering old favourites.

In 2018, Cosmetokyo organizers Reed Exhibitions Japan had added a number of new features, including a new and very interesting section of the show – Inner Beauty. The entire trade show constellation – Cosmetokyo and its sister show Cosmetech together with Inner Beauty and Beauty & Health Foods Expo (another new show section in 2018) – was renamed Health & Beauty Week Tokyo. And there were a few other smaller shows which took place concurrently with Cosmetokyo, like Health & Beauty Goods Expo and Lifestyle Expo Tokyo 2018.

And now, after this lengthy introduction: click on the link below for more information about some of the interesting brands I met at Cosmetokyo 2018!

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Triangle: Fermented Hydrogel Facial Mask (Whamisa), Pink Camellia Soombi Mask (Blossom Jeju) and Calendula Modeling Mask (Lindsay)

Here is another installment of the Triangle series. Today, I am looking at three popular face mask formats. Although all three companies are from Korea, they are as different as their product concepts: Whamisa is a certified organic niche brand, Blossom Jeju is a premium cosmetics brand from the island of Jeju and Lindsay is the salon face mask manufacturer who started the rubber mask hype in Korea.

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Retail notes from Tokyo: [Show Report] Cosme Tokyo 2014

This week I attended CosmeTokyo, Japan’s most important cosmetics trade show. The fair took place from 20th to 22nd October in Tokyo’s Big Sight exhibition center, which is located near Tokyo Bay. CosmeTokyo 2014 was the third edition of the show; it was held in conjunction with CosmeTech, a trade fair for ingredients, packaging, OEM manufacturing and so on. A total of 542 exhibitors from 36 countries attended the two shows and over the three days of CosmeTokyo/CosmeTech, there were 20,754 trade visitors.

CosmeTokyo 2014 (14)

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