Brand Japan

Muji, well known for its affordable, understated quality clothing and homeware, now has more stores abroad than in its home country and has opened its first hotel in Shenzhen, with other launches scheduled for Beijing this summer and Tokyo in 2019. All the venues feature Muji products and services, designed to “restore mind and body.”

This month, Muji announced it will open a flagship online store on JD.com, the giant Chinese online marketplace, and it will promote the online store in 231 of its bricks-and-mortar stores in China. “Known worldwide for its simple aesthetic and well-designed products, Muji has garnered a loyal fanbase of quality-conscious consumers,” says Lijun Xin, president of JD Home and Life. “With our commitment to delivering authentic products with world-class service, JD is the perfect forum for Muji’s premium wares.” In addition, Muji operator Ryohin Keikaku now has more than 450 stores abroad, slightly more than it has in Japan.

“Japan is revamping its traditional values of essentialism, which have become so popular internationally, as a new lifestyle – with Muji, Uniqlo and [decluttering guru] Marie Kondo espousing a simple but pleasant life,” says Florence Bernardin, Paris-based founder of Asian cosmetics and culture consultancy Information & Inspiration.

Japanese brands, riding on patented fabric technology and fresh ideas from young designers, are enjoying record profits boosted by overseas growth and e-commerce. “The Age of Asia is finally here,” Tadashi Yanai, CEO of Fast Retailing, the parent company of Uniqlo and GU, told the Nikkei Asian Review in April. “It really strikes me that our products are accepted worldwide.”

Uniqlo’s patented HeatTech range, for example, which offers thin yet warm winter innerwear, is selling well in China. The Japanese apparel brand has 2,000 stores around the world, with plans for 160 more, including 100 in China, at a time when US counterparts such as Gap are struggling.

Earlier this year, Shiseido recruited high-school girls to design make-up products, in an innovative project called Posme. Its first item, launched earlier this year, is the multi-use Play Color Chip, which can be applied to lips, cheeks, eyelids or eyebrows. For Playlist, another of Shiseido’s sub-brands, make-up artists designed a range of products packaged in tubes, to resemble a box of oil paints.

Natural skincare and beauty brand Three, started by New York-based Japanese make-up artist Rie Omoto, has opened stores in Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, and is also sold at the Lotte department store in Seoul’s must-visit beauty destination, Myeongdong.