A Dramatic Start with Stage Makeup

Yojiya had its beginnings in one of the streets of Kyoto, where the performance arts were flourishing, as a seller of stage makeup. It became a specialist store for toothbrushes at one point, which is also what gave the store its current name, and afterwards Yojiya gained widespread popularity as a vendor of original and made-to-order products.

• 1904

  The Establishment of Kunieda Shoten

  Founder Shigeo Kunieda once set off from his place of apprenticeship and began to sell stage makeup. He travelled around with his wares loaded on a cart, hawking his goods and visiting regular customers. In August 1904, he then established the "Kunieda Shoten" store to the south of the Sanjo Gokomachi area.

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    Carts (illustration)

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    The initial Sanjo Gokomachi store

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    Rouge for Theatrical Makeup

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    Pigments for Theatrical Makeup

• 1915

  Relocation of Store
  to its Present Location

  The store was moved to Shinkyogoku, where it still stands now.
  People were beginning to pay attention to dental hygiene, and founder Shigeo Kunieda quickly took notice of the rising demand. He proceeded to open a toothbrush shop the next year in Shinkyogoku.

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    The initial Shinkyogoku store

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    Toothbrushes of the time

• 1921

  Creation of "aburatorigami"
  Oil-blotting facial paper

  "Aburatorigami" was devised after performers at a customer's film studio sought advice.
  The paper were originally four times their present size. Later, an improved version with palm-sized paper in a notebook-like format was put on the market for five sen per booklet. The new version became an instant hit.

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    aburatorigami
    (4 times the present size)

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    aburatorigami over the years

• 1945

  Original Yojiya Logo

  Nobuo Kunieda, who succeeded Shigeo Kunieda to become the store's second president, drew this clown-inspired logo for use on products, signage, and advertisements. He formed partnerships with manufacturers like Shiseido, Kobayashi Unlimited Partnership (the predecessor of Kosé) and Mitsuyoshi. At the time, made-to-order products were Yojiya's main line of business.

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    Original Yojiya Logo

• 1965

  Making of the Current Logo

  The motif of this logo is a hand mirror drawn by Nobuo Kunieda, the company's second president. The striking design features a beautiful Kyoto woman reflected in a hand mirror, an indispensable tool for any woman's personal grooming. It has become widely known as the "face of Yojiya."

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    Current Yojiya logo

• 1967

  Opening of the Gion Store

  A second store was opened on Hanamikoji Street, which leads into Kyoto's Gion district. The Gion store was managed by Yojiya's second president Nobuo Kunieda, while his wife Tsukiyo managed the main store. With its chandeliers and stylish art deco interior design, the new location quickly became popular with younger customers. Its wares included cosmetics, imported compacts and perfume, handkerchiefs, and bags.

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    The Gion store at the time

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    Gion store interior

• 1968

  Appearance in "Safflower Story"

  Tsutomu Minakami's novel, Safflower Story, was published in a magazine called Housewife's Friend. The novel conveys the charm of Kyobeni rouges based on interviews with Yojiya's Kyobeni artisan, Yasutaro Tokuda. The novel was adapted for the stage by the Haiyuza Theatre Company in 1983. A new performance was thereafter given at the Shinbashi Enbujo Theatre in 2006.

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    The novel Safflower Story

Paving a Path Beyond Our Time, Tread to This Day

The establishment of a Development Department by Yasuhiro Kunieda, the company's the fourth president, marked a new chapter in Yojiya's history. The move spurred bold innovation on the company's business model, including mail order sales and overseas expansion.
We dropped other brands and began to sell our own products exclusively, laying the foundations for the Yojiya you see today.

• 1989

  Establishment of the Development Department

  Following the sudden passing of Yojiya’s second president, Nobuo Kunieda, his wife Tsukiyo became the third president. Later that year, his son Yasuhiro took the helm to become the company's fourth president. He established a Development Department with the goal of renewing and bringing back the company's brand as a cosmetics manufacturer—something his father was unable to achieve. The company began to focus on the development of new products, expansion of sales channels, manufacturing, and brand building.

• 1990

  Work on Original Products Restarts

  The company began planning special events at department stores in order to establish the Yojiya brand. Development and sale of original products, which had been suspended due to the war and other reasons, was resumed. The memorable first new product of that initiative was a pair of coupled mirrors, now depicted in the company's logo. President Yasuhiro Kunieda personally took part in its development.

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    Coupled mirrors, an original product

• 1993

  First Department Store Event

  A sales event was held in a department store for the first time. President Yasuhiro Kunieda personally attended the memorable event at the Hankyu Umeda Main Store.

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    View of the event venue

• 1994

  Launch of Mail Order Service

  Yojiya had had taken orders from distant customers before by telephone and fax, but in response to rising demand for shipments all across the country, as well as to allow customers who had attended events to continue using our products, we launched a full-fledged mail order service. In those days, mail order services were not widespread. Nonetheless, the company challenged itself to innovate its business model, creating a catalog, setting up and maintaining an operational system, and handling everything from packing to shipping with consistency.

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    Catalog at the time

• 1996

  Opening of the First Yojiya Brand-exclusive Shops

  A Sanjo store (Sanjo Tominokoji; moved to Teramachi Sanjo in 2018) and Pontocho store (to the north of Shijo Street in Pontocho; closed in May 2008) were simultaneously opened as the company's first brand-exclusive shops, dealing only in Yojiya products. As the first stores to be set up by the Development Department established by President Yasuhiro Kunieda, their opening was an important first step in shaping the company into what it is today.

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    Sanjo store at the time (Sanjo Tominokoji)

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    Pontocho store at the time

• 1998

  Website Launch

  The company's official website was launched. In addition to providing the latest information and a platform for online orders, it also provided a point of contact for customer feedback.

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    Former Yojiya website

  Start of Overseas Events

  The company began to actively promote its brand overseas, participating in the 1998 and 1999 Los Angeles Nisei Week Japanese Festivals. It also took part in the Japan Expo at the Los Angeles Convention Center and sent carts of products to shopping centers like Fashion Island and the Westside Pavilion.

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    Nisei Week Japanese Festival

• 1999

  Launch of Overseas Showcase Store

  We launched our first overseas street-facing store in Torrance, Los Angeles (closed in July 2005) to survey the opinions of overseas customers in anticipation of further global expansion. Afterwards, we contracted with the Regent Hotel's Regent Spa in Summerlin, Las Vegas and introduced our products at the Ala Moana Shopping Center in Hawaii. Operations expanded into the United States, including the establishment of a US-wide mail order system.

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    Yojiya USA store in Torrance at the time

  Opening of First Hotel Store

  Our first store inside a hotel was opened at the Kyoto Hotel (now the Kyoto Hotel Okura).

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    Kyoto Hotel store at the time

Towards Diversification and Further Growth

With the turn of the millennium, we launched the "Year 2000 Project" to revitalize our business in preparation for the next 100 years.
We challenged ourselves to expand the scope of our business with newly developed cosmetic products, cafés, beauty salons and more.
We are determined to keep growing while delivering products that that will be deeply loved by our customers.

• 2000

  Launch of an Airport Duty-free Shop

  The Yojiya Corner (closed in August 2018), the company's first duty-free shop, was set up in Kansai Airport's south wing duty-free shop. Initially, it was a 75 cm square fixture where a special overseas-only version of our "aburatorigami" were sold. Later, shops were also set up at Narita International Airport and Haneda Airport.

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    The Kansai International Airport Duty-free Corner at the time

• 2001

  Launch of "Uruoi Plus," a Line of Basic Skincare Products

  The essential skincare product line Uruoi Plus (Moisture Plus) was launched. The products were well-received when they were tested at the Isetan Shinjuku Store the previous year. In 2001, an event was held to promote the launch on the first floor of Hankyu Umeda Main Store. Development began of a full line of skincare products, and as part of that the Pontocho store was renewed as a cosmetics specialty store.

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    The original Uruoi Plus line of skincare products

• 2002

  Launch of Yojiya Shogu

  We launched the Yojiya Shogu line on the second floor of our Gion store, featuring traditional makeup tools such as brushes. In addition to meeting the needs of geisha and performers on the stage and screen, the launch aimed to carry the charms of traditional makeup culture into the future. In 2003, we released lipsticks and face colors featuring traditional hues from Japan's past in an attempt to incorporate the beauty of Japanese culture into everyday cosmetics.

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    2nd floor of the Gion store at the time

• 2003

  Opening of the Yojiya Café Ginkakuji Store

  The first Yojiya Café opened along the Philosopher's Walk, a famous path. Even when the shop is busy, you can enjoy a drink while you wait.

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    Yojiya Café Ginkakuji Store

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    Matcha cappuccino

• 2004

  Opening of Daimaru Kyoto Store

  We opened a cosmetics specialty store on the first floor of Daimaru Kyoto—our first location inside a shopping center.

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    The initial Daimaru Kyoto store

• 2006

  Participation in Taipei International Travel Fair

  In November, we participated in the first international travel fair to be held in Taiwan. We raised our brand's profile in Taiwan with an exhibition of Yojiya products centered around our flagship "aburatorigami".

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    Taipei International Travel Fair

• 2007

  Limited-time Shop in France

  We participated in the Japan Expo at Le Bon Marché in Paris, France, opening a limited-time store there from August to December.

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    Le Bon Marché in Paris, France

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    Inside the store

• 2008

  Renovation of the Gion store

  The second floor of the Gion store was renovated as a cosmetics floor. In 2017, a beauty salon was also added to the facility.

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    Second floor of the Gion store

  Launch of Beauty Salon Services

  We launched a beauty salon service offering treatments using our very own Yojiya products. It is a step towards expanding the ways we can help enhance and bring out our customers' beauty beyond simply offering our products.

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    Beauty salon

• 2009

  Exhibition at the CIDESCO World Congress

  CIDESCO, an international educational organization dedicated to the aesthetics, held its 58th World Congress in Kyoto.　There, we gave a presentation titled "Aburatorigami As One's Only Daily Beauty Treatment," in addition to exhibiting and selling our products.　The exhibition was an opportunity to convey Japan's sense of aesthetics and traditions of personal grooming, as well as to raise awareness that aburatorigami are not only for makeup touch-ups, but are also increasingly in demand as a basic skincare product.

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    CIDESCO World Congress

• 2010

  Designing of Logo for Yojiya Café

  A new logo was designed for Yojiya Café, and we also began developing original goods.

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    Yojiya Café logo

  Creation of Yojiya Cosmetics Logo

  The original hand mirror logo was adapted to create a new logo for Yojiya Cosmetics.

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    Yojiya Cosmetics logo

  First Yojiya Cappuccino Vending Machine in Japan

  A vending machine was installed at the Haneda Airport Terminal 2 store after over a year of planning and preparation. We began offering cappuccinos decorated with the face from Yojiya's logo.

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    Vending machine

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    Cappuccino

  Participation in Kyoto Showcase Shop in Shanghai

  From October to March in the city of Shanghai, an entry point for expansion into the Chinese market, we exhibited at a special shop called the Kyoto Antenna Shop. The shop is dedicated to showcasing and selling Kyoto's local specialties and products of Kyoto companies.

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    The Kyoto showcase shop in Shanghai

• 2012

  Opening of First Tokyo flagship Store

  We opened a shop and café in the Nippon Beauty Area of Tokyo's Shibuya Hikarie ShinQs department store (closed in 2017). This shop was our first flagship store in Tokyo. The store was founded on the traditions, history and dedication to high quality service that we have cultivated in Kyoto since our beginnings as a vendor of stage makeup. The fusion of a café with cosmetics provided customers with a novel experience.

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    Shibuya Hikarie ShinQs store at the time

• 2014

  Limited-time Shop in Taiwan

  As part of our expansion into Asia, we participated in an exhibition of Japanese goods in October at Pacific Sogo with the opening of a limited-time shop. We have continued to make steady progress, setting up shops at Shin Kong Mitsukoshi and Pacific Sogo in 2015, Pacific Sogo in 2017, and Far Eastern and Kaohsiung's Sogo Hanshin Arena Shopping Plaza in 2018.

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    The event in Taiwan

• 2016

  Participation in Japan Style Fair in Thailand

  In May, we participated in the Japan Style Fair at Isetan Bangkok with a limited-time shop.

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    Japan Style Fair

• 2020

  The fifth has become top

  Kou, the son of fourth generation Yasuhiro, succeeded his father as president of the company when the world is in the confusion of the COVID-19. Online shopping was focused more than usual while closing the stores temporarily in order to avoid the spread of new coronavirus. At the same time, a great deal of efforts has been made to achieve better working conditions and advance the company into the new stage. With keeping our original manufacturing spirit and over 100 years tradition, we always devote ourselves to provide customer oriented services of “O-MO-TE-NA-SHI”.