Southwest Japan’s Challenges: Global Wave / Saga Seeks to Become Cosmetics Industry Base; Local Govt Hopes to Create Version of ‘Cosmetic Valley’ in Japan

By Kengo Umeno / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

2:00 JST, March 15, 2025

This is the sixth installment of a series that follows the waves of change taking place in Kyushu and nearby Yamaguchi and Okinawa prefectures ahead of 2050.

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SAGA — “Saga Prefecture is experiencing great things,” said Prof. Yoshihiro Tokudome, 54, who teaches cosmetic science at Saga University in Saga City, in early January. “Now we have a golden opportunity.”

Tokudome is a leading cosmetics researcher who has long been involved in research at cosmetics manufacturer Pola Chemical Industries, Inc. in Yokohama.

He will play a central role in the tentatively named “Interdisciplinary Studies on Cosmetic Science,” which Saga University plans to establish in April 2026.

Tokudome gathers various ingredients from around the prefecture for possible cosmetics, including mud for the Ariake Sea and citrus fruits.

In his lab, there are rows of vials containing possible ingredients. Certain elements of the ingredients are extracted through various means and analyzed to determine their effects on skin cells.

The lab, which currently has about 10 students, also conducts joint research with cosmetics manufacturers.

The interdisciplinary organization is to be established as part of a cosmetics initiative, which aims to have the cosmetics industry, local governments and academia in Saga Prefecture work together to concentrate cosmetics-related companies and establish a supply center for nature-based ingredients.

Tokudome was requested to help develop personnel for creating cosmetics.

“Local governments in Saga Prefecture are working to support the cosmetics industry,” Tokudome said. “There is no other place like this.”

Following French model

Saga Prefecture is aiming to become like Chartres, a city in central France that is about an hour away from Paris by train. The area within 150 kilometers of the city is called the Cosmetic Valley, which is the world’s largest cluster of cosmetics-related firms and is home to 600 cosmetics companies and 200 research organizations.

The Cosmetic Valley includes the world’s leading cosmetics companies, including L’Oreal, LVMH and Chanel, with more than ¥1 trillion worth of products being shipped annually.

Saga Prefecture hopes to create its own version of the Cosmetic Valley in the prefecture and nearby areas in northern Kyushu.

“Ten years ago, people laughed at the plan and said it was impossible,” said Shinji Yamasaki, 68, chairman of the Japan Cosmetic Center, an industry-government-academic organization established in Karatsu in the prefecture in 2013. “Now, people are saying that I had a lot of foresight.”

It all started in the late 2000s.

Yamasaki, who runs Bloom, a company that tests cosmetic ingredients in Karatsu, met the then President of the Cosmetic Valley association Alban Muller, and heard about a plan to establish a cosmetics manufacturing base in Japan for the Asian market in order to lower shipping costs.

One-third of the cosmetics products manufactured in the Cosmetic Valley is shipped for Asia. However, mass transportation is limited to sea routes. It takes about 40 days for products to reach Singapore, a logistics hub in Asia, from Europe. If manufacturing can be done in Japan, transportation to Singapore would only take four days at about one-tenth the cost.

In response to Muller’s plan, Saga Prefecture and the local industrial community launched the cosmetics initiative in fiscal 2013.

Karatsu herbs

Positive results have already been seen.

In late January, rosemary was growing in a 3,000-square-meter area in the mountains of Karatsu.

The area is an herb garden belonging to the Tokyo-based cosmetics manufacturer Acro Inc. The company’s luxury Three brand products, which use natural plant ingredients, are sold in department stores.

The company began growing herbs in the area for the brand in 2022 and now has herb gardens in 12 locations, with plans for more.

Essential oils are extracted from the herbs, and it is said that only a few grams can be extracted per kilogram of the herb. The essential oils will be used in Three products starting this year.

Acro is constructing an essential oil distillation facility in Karatsu that is scheduled to open in July.

“The local support system was a very important factor for us in deciding to operate in Karatsu,” a company official said.

According to the prefecture, 16 cosmetics companies have started operations in the prefecture, mainly in Karatsu, since 2015. The companies have established bases for manufacturing products and developing materials, and some are also exporting to other Asian countries.

The prefecture’s cosmetics production value jumped to ¥13.5 billion in 2023, compared to about ¥6.4 billion in 2014, indicating a positive change. The prefecture and others involved aim to take advantage of this change to create jobs and revitalize the local economy.

Need for recognition

A major obstacle to attracting more companies, such as large foreign firms, to the area is that the project is not well-known.

“Saga Prefecture has yet to become synonymous with the cosmetic industry,” Yamasaki said. “We have laid the foundation to attract companies and people in the cosmetics industry, so now, we just need to spread the word about our project.”

In order to popularize the cosmetics project, the prefecture plans to also work with those in the sports and tourism industries.

Japan’s cosmetics exports totaled about ¥130 billion in 2013. Over the past 10 years, it has seen an about 5.5-time increase, driven by economic growth in Asia.

“In the future, we’ll manufacture world-class brands in Japan and ship them to other parts of Asia,” Yamasaki said. “Saga Prefecture and nearby areas in northern Kyushu are the only possible places for this.”

Satoshi Hamaguchi, 50, director of the Saga Prefecture office of the Japan External Trade Organization, said, “In the future, Saga Prefecture may become an important base for the Asian market in the international cosmetics manufacturing network.”