istyle, Inc.
also invests · investor profileTokyo, JP · Public · 1 known investors
istyle is a Japanese "market design" company in the beauty industry that aims to build a consumer-centric market by connecting people with beauty products, services, and other people. It focuses on updating the beauty world through offerings adapted to changes in lifestyles, values, and technology.
Also known as istyle Inc. · Istyle, Inc. · アイスタイル · 株式会社アイスタイル
Investors · 1
Company profile
researched Aug 2026istyle, Inc. (株式会社アイスタイル) is a Tokyo-based beauty industry company that plans and operates @cosme, a comprehensive Japanese beauty portal built around user-generated cosmetics reviews, and provides related advertising and marketing services. The group combines media, e-commerce and physical retail: @cosme as an information and review platform, @cosme SHOPPING as an online cosmetics store, and @cosme STORE cosmetics specialty shops together with large flagship locations such as @cosme TOKYO, @cosme OSAKA and @cosme NAGOYA.
The business is organised into segments that have included marketing/marketing support, retail, global (overseas e-commerce, wholesale, retail and media), beauty business support such as salon information and beauty-industry recruiting, and an investment and development business that invests in early-stage and beauty-sector companies. Brand-facing services are packaged under @cosme for Business, covering display, listing and audience advertising, official brand pages, sampling and prize campaigns, in-store promotion at @cosme STORE and @cosme TOKYO, use of Best Cosme and ranking logos and review data, plus research, PR, staffing, digital customer-service and overseas-expansion support.
Headquarters are at Ark Mori Building 34F, 1-12-32 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo. Tetsuro Yoshimatsu is Representative Director and Chairman/CEO, with Shu Endo as Representative Director and President/COO, Kei Sugawara as Director and CFO, and Mayumi Yamada as a non-executive director.
Founding story
istyle was founded in 1999 by Tetsuro Yoshimatsu, who serves as Representative Director and CEO; the @cosme cosmetics review site opened at founding.
Business model
istyle operates a vertically integrated beauty business that links its media platform, e-commerce and physical stores, using a proprietary database of cosmetics product and user information accumulated across those channels. Revenue comes from cosmetics retail (online @cosme SHOPPING and @cosme STORE outlets), advertising and marketing-support solutions sold to cosmetics brands, premium membership and BtoC billing services, beauty-industry staffing and salon/recruitment services, and an investment and development arm.
Consolidated revenue of ¥56.085 billion for the fiscal year ended June 2024, of which the cosmetics specialty store retail chain accounted for approximately ¥25.5 billion in the fiscal year ended June 2025. Income streams include product sales through EC and stores, brand marketing and advertising services (including subscription-style monthly brand-page services), and fee-based support services.
Traction
Reported metrics include 17.6 million monthly unique users, 9.6 million members and 20.8 million reviews on @cosme, about 50,000 products carried on @cosme SHOPPING, and 1,079 consolidated employees as of end-June 2024 (1,210 employees per a later market profile). Review volume milestones progressed from 10 million to 15 million and 20 million, while consolidated revenue grew through ¥10bn, ¥20bn, ¥30bn and ¥40bn to ¥56.085bn in FY June 2024.
Latest developments
Recent activity includes the announcement of an expanded, renovated @cosme STORE at Lumine Yurakucho reopening 10 September 2026 with 1.5x floor space, a Korean cosmetics corner and self-service skin measurement, and a decision to open the group's first Kyushu store — its largest sales floor in the region — at Lachic Fukuoka Tenjin in June 2027. The company released a native app version of its "Kyoshite! Biyoubuin-san LIVE SHOPPING" live-commerce content, roughly doubling product click volume, and published the official site and statement for Tokyo Beauty Week 2026. On the corporate side, istyle reported full-year results for the period ended 30 June 2026, issued guidance and dividend plans for FY June 2027, and its board authorised a share buyback of 7,500,000 shares (7.5%) for ¥2.8 billion in August 2026. In September 2025, Amazon's stake in istyle was diluted after Mitsui exercised conversion rights.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history
Market position
istyle positions @cosme as Japan's largest beauty platform and describes itself as operating the country's leading beauty information medium, the domestic e-commerce site with the largest number of authorised-product listings, and Japan's largest cosmetics specialty retail chain by store count and sales.
The company's stated differentiator is a proprietary database of cosmetics product and consumer information built from the combination of media, e-commerce and physical stores, which it uses both to serve consumers and to sell marketing solutions to brands, alongside a vertically integrated online-plus-offline structure within the beauty category.
Technology
The company maintains what it describes as one of Japan's largest datasets on beauty consumers, brands and products, spanning 20.8 million reviews, 400,000 products and 44,000 brands, and applies it across media, EC and store operations. Engineering is consolidated in a Technology & Creative (T&C) development center of roughly 250 people (about 120 employees and 130 contractors) organised into platform, technology-development and two product-development divisions. Over roughly two years the company migrated fully from on-premises infrastructure to AWS, consolidated development languages on TypeScript and Java, tightened security controls and formalised incident-response processes, and has begun work on AI-driven development and AI-based personalised services.
Go-to-market
Consumer reach is driven by the @cosme review platform and its membership base, complemented by owned e-commerce and a store network, live-shopping content, and events such as @cosme Beauty Day, Tokyo Beauty Week and in-store Best Cosme award promotions. Brand customers are served through the @cosme for Business solutions portal with advertising, sampling, in-store promotion and data-licensing menus.
Consumers seeking cosmetics information and products, and cosmetics brands and beauty-industry businesses buying advertising, marketing, research, PR, staffing and retail distribution services.
Geography
Headquartered in Tokyo with a nationwide Japanese store network; as of July 2025 the group had 38 stores, comprising 26 @cosme STORE locations, 3 overseas stores, flagship stores in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, and group stores including four in Sydney and two Tokyo Komachi outlets. The company is expanding @cosme services internationally with a focus on East Asia, including Hong Kong operations and dedicated Hong Kong/Taiwan and cross-border trading units, and its global segment provides e-commerce, wholesale, retail and media services outside Japan.
History
Founded on 27 July 1999, the company launched @cosme at inception and later opened @cosme SHOPPING in 2002 and its first @cosme STORE, reaching a 10th and then a 20th store. It began business alliances with Amazon and Mitsui & Co., listed on the TSE Mothers market in March 2012 (ticker 3660) and moved to the TSE 1st Section the same year. It held its first Beauty Day event in 2018 (with @cosme Beauty Day gross merchandise value surpassing ¥1.1 billion), opened @cosme TOKYO in 2020, @cosme OSAKA in 2023, and @cosme NAGOYA and a Hong Kong flagship in 2025.
Compiled by commissioned research from 5 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 14
launches, deals, and filingsThe @cosme content "Kyoshite! Biyoubuin-san LIVE SHOPPING" was made into a native app supporting review search and purchase while watching streams; product clicks roughly doubled after the update.
istyle announced an equity buyback of 7,500,000 shares, representing 7.5% of shares, for ¥2,800 million; the board authorized the buyback plan on 13 August 2026.
istyle reported full-year results for the year ended 30 June 2026 and provided consolidated earnings and dividend guidance for the fiscal year ending 30 June 2027.
The store is to reopen on 10 September 2026 with 1.5x floor area, a new corner for Korean cosmetics debuting in Japan, and self-service skin measurement devices.
@cosme STORE will enter Tenjin with the largest sales floor area in Kyushu, opening June 2027.
Amazon's shareholding in istyle was diluted following Mitsui's exercise of conversion rights.
istyle opened @cosme NAGOYA and its first overseas flagship in Hong Kong.
istyle began business alliances with Amazon and Mitsui & Co. and held the first Beauty Day event, with @cosme Beauty Day gross merchandise value surpassing ¥1.1 billion.
istyle listed on the TSE Mothers market under ticker 3660 and later moved to the TSE 1st Section in 2012.
Globis Capital Partners made a growth-stage investment in istyle, operator of the @cosme consumer-generated beauty media; initial investment dated December 2010, announced January 2011.
istyle, Inc. was founded on 27 July 1999 in Tokyo, launching the @cosme cosmetics review site.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 5
primary sources listed
- istyle, Inc.istyle.co.jp · web
5 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does istyle, Inc. do?
- Japanese beauty company operating the @cosme review platform, e-commerce site and cosmetics store chain.
- Who are istyle, Inc.'s investors?
- istyle, Inc.'s investors include Globis Capital Partners.
- Where is istyle, Inc. headquartered?
- istyle, Inc. is headquartered in Tokyo, JP.