2024.04.11

Yojiya's Effort to Shift Its Image From Kyoto Souvenir to Skincare Brand

The 'Yojiya Group', with a history spanning 120 years, started out selling theatrical makeup tools. Given the context of Kyoto, where there were bustling flower districts and kabuki was popular, theatrical makeup tools were widely loved and deeply rooted in people's daily lives. The company's signature product, blotting paper, was born from the voices of theatre actors and has become a long-loved product.

Although the company is strongly associated with Kyoto souvenirs, it is currently working on building a brand with a strategy to 'break away from tourism dependence'. In this article, we talked to Koh Kunieda, President and CEO of the company, and Suzu Nakae, who is in charge of public relations, to find out more about the company's history and what it's doing as a skincare brand.

PROFILE

Koh Kunieda

President & CEO of Yojiya Group

PROFILE

Suzu Nakae

Public Relations, Yojiya Group

Expanding the Tourism Business After a Blotting Paper Boom

Can you tell us about the background of the foundation of your company?

Nakae"Originally, our company was doing hawking of theatrical makeup tools, but in 1904 we opened a store called 'Kunieda Shoten' on the lower side of Sanjo Gokomachi. At the time, the business of theatrical makeup tools was widely loved in Kyoto. Eventually, we moved our store to Shinkyogoku, the busiest street in Kyoto.

"In the early Taisho era, oral hygiene started to attract attention, so the founder, Shigeo Kunieda, began to focus on selling toothbrushes. At that time, toothbrushes were called 'yoji', and our company also came to be called 'Yojiya'.

"I heard that the nickname was widely loved by people, so we changed the name of the store to 'Yojiya'."

Is there a certain thought or belief that has been passed down from the foundation of your company to the present in terms of product development?

Nakae"The expansion of high-quality products. Although there was a time when we sold goods sourced from other companies after the foundation, we valued the quality of the goods even when selecting them.

"We still continue this belief, focusing on the development and sale of quality items."

I understand that you also incorporate customer feedback in product development. How do you collect this information?

Nakae"Currently, we have a system in place where we consolidate the customer feedback gathered by store staff to the product development department. Not only do we listen to the direct needs of customers, such as what kinds of products they want, but we also listen to the opinions of store staff based on this feedback.

"We view both the voices of customers and the voices of our store staff as valuable and incorporate them into our product development."

Your company has a long history, can you tell us about a turning point in the expansion of your business?

Kunieda"A turning point for us was the blotting paper boom in the 1990s. Our company has been around for 120 years, but our characteristics have changed significantly between the first 90 years and the last 30 years.

"For the first 90 years, we positioned ourselves as a 'locally loved cosmetics store'. But the blotting paper boom marked the point where we became known to people across the country, and we shifted to tourism business all at once. For the past 30 years, the brand has grown as a Kyoto souvenirs."

Blotting paper continues to be a long-selling product that is still loved today. What do you think are the reasons for its popularity?

Nakae"We believe the reason is it can absorb only the excess oil and has a comfortable feel when used."

Kunieda"While many blotting papers use pulp, our blotting paper uses manila hemp. It's easier to understand if you touch the pulp one and compare it, it doesn't have the papery feel.

"Also, being recognized as 'Yojiya's blotting paper' is one of the reasons why it continues to be a long-seller."

Transitioning from 'Branding Based on Kyoto' to 'Creating Yojiya Fans'

Currently, you also offer a wide range of skincare items. Could you tell us why you decided to focus on expanding these product lines?

Kunieda"In the tourism industry, Yojiya has a reputation similar to that of matcha – it's one of the charms of Kyoto and often considered as a local souvenir. However, on its own, our company cannot keep attracting customers into our shops.

"While our brand is established with tourism in mind, we realized that we need to strive to become a brand that customers repeatedly choose to visit. Therefore, we decided to expand our product lineup to create a reason for customers to keep coming back. We have been offering a wide range of items such as cosmetics for quite some time, but we now decided to focus on skincare product development, a category that has been particularly popular."