Tag Archives: Japan organic beauty

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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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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Retail notes from Tokyo: [Brand Profile] Tokotowa Organics

Today I visited organic perfumery chain Cosmekitchen’s Naturopathy outlet in Shinjuku’s luxury Newoman department store to check out the aromatherapy fragrances of Japanese organic perfume brand Tokotowa Organics. I had met the founder of Tokotowa’s parent company Organic Styles at the Natural Cosmetics Conference 2017 in Berlin just last month – and of course I was immediately interested. A Japanese aromatherapy brand? Cool!

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Brand Profile: Satamisaki Organics

I first came across Kyushu-based niche beauty brand Satamisaki Organics in Japanese drugstore retailer Ainz & Tulpe’s Shinjuku East outlet this October (you can read my article about the company’s fabulous new Tokyo flagship store here!). Ainz & Tulpe has a special section on the first floor that is dedicated to local beauty brands from across Japan.

Ainz & Tulpe Flagship Shinjuku (54)

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Retail notes from Tokyo: [Store Profile] Beauty Library in Omotesando

Another interesting store which Julia from Beautyjagd and I visited last week was Beauty Library in Omotesando, just off Aoyama-dori street. Beauty Library opened in June 2015 and is run by Japanese beauty company Nature’s Way.

The retail concept for Beauty Library was created by renowned Japanese design agency Nendo: a concept store presenting organic and natural cosmetics like library information, with an attached café serving healthy foods and beverages.

And Beauty Library is indeed a beautiful store with a generous glass-fronted entrance, plenty of light and free-standing wooden product shelves that really do look a bit like library shelves.

Beauty Library (8)

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Retail notes from Tokyo: [Store Profile] Ainz & Tulpe Shinjuku

I arrived in Tokyo a couple of days ago and it’s lovely to be back! It’s also turning into a busy week again: Tokyo Design Week starts in a few days – look out for a show review soon! – and I’ve already started to check out my favourite beauty stores to see what’s been happening in the last six months.

My friend Julia from organic blog Beautyjagd is also in Tokyo at the moment and she suggested we visit the new Ainz & Tulpe drugstore across from the East Exit of Shinjuku Station. Which is what we did – and what a fabulous store it turned out to be!

During my last visit in Tokyo I had checked out a couple of smaller Ainz & Tulpe outlets in Shinjuku and Shibuya. Yes, I did notice the difference  to the traditional Japanese drugstore retailers like Sun Drug, Matsumoto Kiyoshi etc. – Ainz & Tulpe stores are much more stylish with good product presentation and a modern store layout – but other than that the chain didn’t leave a lasting impression.

However, the chain’s new Shinjuku store is in a different league altogether. It was opened in July 2015 and is quite spectacular – three floors with a total retail space of 1,290 sq m. Located opposite the East Exit of Shinjuku station, close to Lumine Est department store, Ainz & Tulpe’s new Tokyo flagship offers a fabulous selection of Japanese and international beauty brands, gadgets, fragrances and something that I’ve only seen at Tokyu Hands so far: regional cosmetics from Japan. Click on the link below for a pictorial tour of the store and more info on the Ainz & Tulpe chain.

Ainz & Tulpe (4)

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Retail notes from Tokyo: [Store Profile] Organic beauty at Cosmekitchen

If you’re interested in organic cosmetics, a visit to Cosmekitchen (Mash Beauty Lab) is practically mandatory. It is Japan’s biggest organic beauty store chain: the first Cosmekitchen store opened in 2004 and the company currently operates 30 outlets across Japan. The majority of the stores are in the Kanto area on Honshu island.

Although the organic beauty market in Japan is growing constantly, I think it is still primarily an urban trend – I noticed that Cosmekitchen stores seem to be mostly located in larger cities. The retailer’s outlets are usually shop-in-shop areas that are based in department stores; in Tokyo, for example, five of the Cosmekitchens are situated in outlets of the Lumine department store chain.

Cosmekitchen Hikarie (1)

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10/29/2014 · 10:42

Retail notes from Tokyo: [Store Profile] Hansel & Gretel

On the list of my must-see stores in Tokyo was an intriguing-sounding shop in the Western parts of the city: Hansel & Gretel (yes, the store is indeed named after the Grimm Brothers’ famous fairy tale!) is located in the affluent suburb of Seijo.

Seijo area (2)

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