1 in 2 Young Japanese Women Skip Cleanser: Shiseido's Gummy

In a Shiseido survey, half of young women skipped morning cleanser. Its answer: a gummy.

▼ About This Episode

Early in the morning, Sakura has overslept and missed breakfast, and she needs something before class. In a drugstore that's open this early, she picks up what looks like gummy candy: a heart, a little lemon. Haru tells her it isn't candy: it's a face cleanser from Shiseido, a Japanese cosmetics company. And when he asks whether she washed her face with cleanser that morning, she admits she just used water.

She's not the only one. In a 2023 Shiseido survey of 650 women aged 15 to 29, half said they didn't use cleanser in the morning, citing no time, too much hassle, and not wanting it to strip their skin's moisture. In Japan, some young people who skip cleanser in the morning and rinse with water have been called the "face-wash cancel" crowd. Shiseido's experts say water alone may not get all the dirt off. The company's response was to make using cleanser easier: hada-gumi, a "skin gummy" you never lather. Wet it and your face, glide it over your skin, and rinse. It went on sale as a limited test run, and the Nikkei reports it sold five times what Shiseido planned. The company also saw parents and kids sharing it, and men using it.

Then Haru points to what hangs by the sink: a hand towel from a Japanese housewares maker that you turn a little after each use, so a dry part comes around and the next swap is pushed back. A gummy you don't lather, a towel you can wait a little longer to change. Which small chore in your day would you hand over to a product first?

▼ Featured Links

hada-gumi — Shiseido's gummy face cleanser: https://www.shiseido.co.jp/hadagumi/

▼ Timestamps (Chapters)

00:00 - Is This the Candy Shelf?

00:38 - Half Skip Morning Cleanser: The Face-Wash Cancel Crowd

01:28 - Shiseido's Response: Cancel the Cancel

01:53 - Hada-gumi: No Lather, Just Glide and Rinse

02:24 - A Limited Test Run, Five Times the Plan

02:48 - A Hand Towel You Turn

03:36 - Weren't You Here for Candy?

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🎵Music by Ivan Ohanezov from Pixabay

#JapanBusiness #JapaneseCulture #NarrativeJapan #JapanPodcast #Shiseido #JapaneseSkincare