"I Want Korean Nationality"?K-Beauty Dominates Don Quijote in Japan amid Soaring Popularity [K-Wave 3.0] ⑦

Korean Wave Spreads Across Tokyo
K-Beauty Becomes Part of Daily Life... Japanese Brands Also Embrace "K-Beauty"
K-Fashion Accelerates Expansion in Japan Driven by Fandom Culture
K-Food Gains Popularity in Korean Towns... Still Faces Challen

Last month on the 12th, a queue for the 'Yunth' popup in front of Atcosme Tokyo. Photo by Jaehyun Park

Last month, Japan's largest beauty select shop, Atcosme Tokyo (@come TOKYO), was bustling with a long queue of people waiting to enter the popup store for the Japanese beauty brand Yunth. Located in Harajuku, a shopping district frequently visited by Japanese Millennials & Gen Z and tourists, the store featured a large photo of BTS member V, which instantly caught the attention of visitors. Yunth appointed V as its ambassador on October 29 last year. As a result, some visitors mistakenly thought Yunth was a K-beauty brand. Even a staff member at the Yunth popup described it as a "Korean brand." At the popup, Ms. Shibata (22) said, "I thought it was a Korean brand because V is the model," expressing her surprise. This is an example of how, as K-beauty gains popularity in Japan, even local brands are being mistaken for Korean cosmetics.

In fact, at the Shibuya branch of Matsumoto Kiyoshi, one of Japan’s three major drugstores, K-beauty brands occupied about 10 out of 30 displays, and at Hands Shibuya, they accounted for about half. Especially at Don Quijote Shibuya, a popular spot for tourists, over 80% of the cosmetics displays featured K-beauty products. These products highlighted ingredients like 'PDRN' and rice germ, and used Korean language on the packaging as part of their marketing strategy. K-beauty products such as Rom&nd and Torriden were also easily found in convenience stores like Lawson, FamilyMart, and 7-Eleven.

"Every K-Cosmetics Welcome"... K-beauty Ranks No. 1 Among Imported Cosmetics in Japan

Since 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic broke out, Korean cosmetics have been selling rapidly in Japan. During the pandemic, increased social distancing led to more viewing of global video services such as Netflix, YouTube, and TikTok, which boosted Japanese interest in Korea through K-pop and K-dramas, and this translated into demand for K-beauty. At the time, the phrase "Every K-Cosmetics Welcome" became popular.

With outbound travel blocked, Japanese consumers flocked to online shopping malls such as Qoo10 Japan that sold Korean cosmetics, and even traditionally closed-off local distributors began to offer K-beauty products in their offline stores. Subsequently, major brands like Anua and TirTir achieved explosive success by launching aggressive influencer marketing campaigns in Japan. K-beauty established itself as "cost-effective (value for money) cosmetics" in the Japanese market.

According to the Korea Cosmetic Industry Institute, last year K-beauty exports to Japan reached a record high of 1.08747 billion dollars. Since 2022, Korean cosmetics have overtaken France to become the top imported cosmetics in the Japanese market.

Ms. Shiori (32), whom we met at Atcosme Tokyo, said, "I first discovered K-beauty through social networking services (SNS). I know all the K-beauty brands on these shelves. Compared to Japanese cosmetics, Korean products are cheaper, so I can try many different things, and above all, the products are cute." Philippine tourist Ms. Ilie Mendoza (31) put several bottles of Dalba mist serum in her shopping basket and explained, "A contestant from Physical: 100 used Dalba mist serum and their skin improved, so it’s become explosively popular in the Philippines. My daughter and friends asked me to buy it, so I picked up several." She added, "Korean products have good ingredients like collagen and the quality of their mask packs is excellent."

Korean Fashion Brands Enter Japan One After Another... "Price, Design, and Quality Are the Competitive Edge"

The popularity of K-beauty is now expanding to K-fashion. Hyundai Department Store opened a permanent store on the 4th floor of Parco Department Store in Shibuya, Tokyo, an area known as "the street of youth." The store hosts popups introducing new Korean fashion brands every two weeks, and last month, K-fashion brands ORR and Hieta were featured. At the time, the ORR store attracted a steady stream of female customers in their 40s.

Hyundai Department Store was offered a permanent store after successfully hosting K-fashion popups since 2024. Ms. Megumi (41), whom we met at the ORR store carrying a shopping bag with a coat, said, "K-fashion has good design and quality, and is 10-15% cheaper than Japanese brands, so it’s reasonable. But it’s a pity there still aren’t many K-fashion brand stores in Japan."

View of the 'Hieta' store on the 4th floor of Parco Department Store in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Even during weekday mornings, the footsteps of women in their teens and twenties continued. Photo by Jae-Hyun Park

Recently, K-fashion has shown significant growth potential in the Japanese online market. As Millennials & Gen Z, who are familiar with smartphones, increasingly use Korean fashion platforms, the influence of influencers-who often wear Korean fashion due to the Japanese "Oshikatsu" (fandom activities) culture-has led to "Ditto consumption" (celebrity-following consumption). Ms. Momo (20), whom we met at a K-fashion popup, said, "When I buy clothes, I often copy the outfits worn by influencers or am influenced by idols. Korean brands feel trendy, so I refer a lot to celebrity outfit photos."

In Japan, K-fashion brands discovered by late-teen to early-twenties generations via Korean social media are now spreading to mothers in their 50s. Among those in their 30s and 40s, K-fashion is spreading rapidly through word of mouth at work. Ms. Aoba (21) said, "Since COVID-19, I’ve been buying clothes online. I learned about Korean brands online, and these days I mainly shop on Musinsa."

According to global market research firm Statista, the Japanese fashion market is worth about 72 trillion won (about 50.6 billion dollars), more than twice the size of Korea’s. As a result, fashion platforms such as Musinsa and W Concept are opening popup stores locally to promote K-fashion brands. Han Sanghun, head of Hyundai Department Store's The Hyundai Global Team, explained, "With the domestic fashion market saturated and brands feeling growth limitations, we saw an opportunity as the number of foreign customers steadily increased after opening The Hyundai Seoul."

Kim Hyunju, head of brand marketing at Musinsa Japan, said, "Korean culture is trending across K-food, K-fashion, and K-beauty. Among locals, there’s even talk of wanting to have Korean nationality."

In fact, around Shin-Okubo Station, the largest Korean town in Tokyo, Korean-language signs for brands such as Dongdaemun Yeopgi Tteokbokki, Sulbing, Sinchon Seolleongtang, Hong Kong Banjeom, and Nene Chicken are everywhere, and Korean marts, chicken shops, and food stalls are packed with customers. In particular, the "Yoajeong" store, which became a hot topic on social media, had a long queue of female customers in their teens and twenties. Ms. Rino (16), whom we met there, said, "I ordered exactly what I saw on TikTok. My first encounter with Korean food was through dramas, and Korean cuisine feels unique and sophisticated." At a Korean mart, Seoul Milk Cooperative's yogurt "Biyotte," which has not received official import approval, was also being distributed. Seoul Milk has not yet received a positive import food notification for Biyotte from Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare quarantine office. Due to delayed quarantine procedures, some Korean marts distributed it through unofficial channels.

Weekend afternoon scene of the Korean Town in Shin-Okubo, Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo, Japan. Korean brand stores such as Sinchon Seolleongtang and Hong Kong Banjeom have lined up one after another. Photo by Jae-Hyun Park

A queue in front of the 'Yoajeong' store in the Korean town of Shin-Okubo, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan. Photo by Jaehyun Park

However, K-food has not yet fully penetrated Japanese households as everyday meals. In most local supermarkets in Japan, aside from a few popular products such as Milkis, Bong Bong, and Buldak Bokkeum Myeon, it is difficult to find Korean products in the processed food section. Kim Hyungwoo, Head of Operations at CJ Food Japan, commented, "Japanese cuisine is mostly sweet and mild, whereas Korean cuisine has a wide spectrum of flavors, including spiciness and saltiness. I believe that although many Japanese have not yet experienced K-food, once they do, demand could increase significantly."