KOTRA Rides the Korean Wave in Japan, Opens Pop-up Store with Tokyu Hands Japan

‘K-Consumer Goods Tokyu Hands Popup Store’ Successfully Held for 2 Weeks

KOTRA's 'K-Consumer Goods Pop-up Store,' operated in collaboration with Tokyu Hands, one of Japan's top three variety shops, for two weeks starting from the 1st, has successfully concluded. Japanese consumers visiting the Tokyu Hands Shinjuku store are browsing the products at the pop-up store.

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Sun-mi] KOTRA announced on the 14th that it held a ‘K-Consumer Goods Pop-up Store’ in collaboration with Tokyu Hands in Japan for two weeks starting from the 1st. This was the first time a Korean product pop-up store was operated at a Tokyu Hands store.

The event was held at Tokyu Hands Shinjuku, near Shin-Okubo, the center of the Korean Wave in Japan, under the concept of ‘Enjoying Korea in Japan.’ Tokyu Hands, noticing the rapidly increasing demand for the Korean Wave in Japan, planned the Korean product pop-up store and proposed collaboration to KOTRA Tokyo Trade Center, which led to the event.

KOTRA Tokyo Trade Center introduced a total of 18 companies, mainly branch companies in the Korean cosmetics and food sectors, to Tokyu Hands, supporting corporate promotion and new market development.

KOTRA expects the products that received positive customer responses at this event to be permanently stocked. If stocked, the brand value of the products will increase, making it easier to enter other distribution channels such as drugstores like ‘Matsumoto Kiyoshi,’ discount stores like ‘Don Quijote,’ and other retail networks.

According to the operation manager of this pop-up store, consumers who visited the venue showed high interest in products exposed through Korean dramas on Netflix or products used by Korean Wave stars like BTS, which gained word-of-mouth through SNS and YouTube. Additionally, consumers preferred vegan products, hygienic and cute designs, and unique products not seen in the Japanese market.

Kim Sam-sik, head of KOTRA Japan Regional Headquarters, said, “We are considering effective marketing methods, including holding pop-up stores, to support exports of our companies stuck domestically due to COVID-19,” and added, “We will actively assist more Korean companies to gain business opportunities in Japan based on the achievements of this project.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.