Why Japanese sunscreen is going viral — and selling out

Japan Times

10 hours ago

When YouTuber Hannah Price set out to compare Japanese and Australian sunscreen, she wasn't expecting her deep dive into the subject to rack up over 2 million views.
The huge number of people poring over Price's video shows the growing interest in skincare products from Japan, much like the K-beauty phenomenon from South Korea.
It includes sun protection, increasingly recognized as a daily essential by influencers who want to shield their skin from ageing and enthuse about the lightweight texture of Japanese brands.
Companies that have perfected their secret formulas want to capitalize on booming demand, including by building factories overseas and selling to Japan's record influx of foreign tourists.
Price, 32, fell into a "year-long rabbit hole" while making her video, learning about everything from SPF science to cultural attitudes to sun exposure.
"I always loved Japanese sunscreen, since I first moved to Japan in 2012," she says from her studio in Tokyo. "I remember trying it for the first time and thinking, 'This is so much better than anything I tried in Australia,'" her home country where sun cream felt "thick, sticky, greasy."
"I thought that the video would be popular," she adds, "but I wasn't expecting it to reach as far (as it did)."
The habit of regular sunscreen use is spreading, especially among younger generations, says Takuya Wada, who works in marketing for Japanese chemical and cosmetics firm Kao.
"There are no borders when it comes to obtaining information on social media, especially Instagram and TikTok," he continues, adding that influencer posts have a "very large" impact on global sunscreen sales.
Australian YouTuber Hannah Price speaks to a camera at her office in Tokyo. |
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Sunscreen products line the shelves at a major drug store in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward. |
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The global skincare market was worth more than $115 billion in 2024 and is expected to grow to $194 billion by 2032, according to Fortune Business Insights.
A boom in celebrity skincare brands has contributed to the industry's growth — with A-listers like Kylie Jenner using social media to share their beauty routines, including sun protection, with hundreds of millions of followers.
When it comes to sunscreen, country-specific regulations mean no single company dominates the field, as the entry barriers to new markets are higher.
Kao's main sunscreen brand Biore UV is ranked 10th worldwide for sales, and second in Asia — competing with the likes of L'Oreal and Beiersdorf, and Japanese rivals such as Shiseido.
The company wants sales from sun protection to reach ¥35 billion ($240 million) in 2027, up 1.6 times from 2023.
It plans to boost overseas production by opening three new sunscreen factories, in Indonesia, Brazil and Germany.
It is technically difficult to develop formulas that block the rays effectively with a smooth texture, as demanded by Japanese consumers, says Takashi Fukui, research and development director for Kao skincare products. But using scientific know-how to strike this tricky balance is what makes Kao "different from other European or American makers."
Takashi Fukui, R&D director in skincare products at Kao, works at the company's lab in Tokyo. Kao's main sunscreen brand Biore UV is ranked 10th worldwide for sales, and second in Asia. |
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In Japan, a cultural obsession with light skin dates back to the sixth century and using white powder imported from China later became a status symbol among nobility.
Fair skin indicated a life away from outdoor labor and sun exposure, and an old Japanese proverb says "white skin covers the seven flaws."
In the 1990s, people began using sunscreen or other cosmetics to avoid tanning — a trend dubbed "bihaku," meaning "beautifully white."
These days, Japanese women use sunscreen as everyday protection against sunspots and ageing, caused when UV rays penetrate into the skin, Fukui says.
A model from Kao demonstrates the use of sunscreen products at the company's research lab. |
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A major drug chain store in the Tokyo's bustling Shibuya district displaying various sunscreen products on shelves. |
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Tans have long been fashionable in Western countries, but awareness of skin cancer risks is rising, making sunscreen an important healthcare product there, Fukui says.
One fan of Japanese brands is Thai skincare influencer Suari Tasanakulpan, who calls them "lightweight" compared to "heavy and uncomfortable" Western offerings.
"There are always new technologies and innovative textures that are often ahead of other countries," says the 40-year-old, who reviews sunscreens on YouTube.
At an outlet of drugstore chain MatsukiyoCocokara in Tokyo's Shibuya district, around 90 sunscreen products are lined up on the shelves.
"Sales of sunscreen are improving year on year," says Takeshi Otsuki, deputy manager of the chain's cosmetic division.
"More people are using sunscreen on a daily basis these days, so their needs are becoming more diverse," he said.
The number of male customers is also increasing, and Japanese sunscreens are very popular with overseas tourists who buy them in multipacks, Otsuki says.
While summer is high season, sunscreen is popular year-round, because Japan has a "relatively high number of sunny days in the winter, and the sunlight hours are long."
YouTuber Price now uses both Japanese and Australian sunscreen, depending on the occasion. She sees the rise in education about sunscreens worldwide as a win-win situation.
It "means you're going to be better protected in general, which is great for everyone," she says.