Over 100 Years Behind Our Brand

Our parent company, Kitao Cosmetics, has been a leader in the Japanese cosmetics industry since 1919. That’s over a century of expert formulas, customer care, and Japanese Beauty expertise.

1919
the start of our legacy

Our fiunder, kunishiro Kawabata, Began in the cosmetics industry in Japan over a century ago. We got our start in the Japanese beauty scene with talcum powders and cosmetic creams and have been improving our skincare formulas ever since.

 

1921
expanding internationally

Just two years later, we were already to join the foreign trade market and began shipping products to customers worldwide.

 

1930-1945
Kitao + overseas

A decade after opening our doors, we officially established ourselves as Kitao Cosmetics Co. and opened our first cosmetics factory overseas. But World War 2 ravaged many businesses, and KITAO was not an exception.

 

1950
hero brand “Robin”

We needed to start from scratch after losing everything, including overseas factories. We then built the new brand ”Robin” under the Kitao Cosmetics name. Not only was Robin a trendy, fashion-forward brand, but KITAO started making products for other companies through OEM to help other companies grow.

 

1960
launching ‘Swan’

We pioneered offerings in supermarkets and beauty salons, including the high-end Saint Laurent brand, along with our own Swan Skincare brand. We successfully exported Swan Skincare to the Middle East, where it gained such popularity that it was frequently imitated.

 

1972
expanding into manufacturing

After half a century of improving our own formulas, we realized we could further share our magic by opening an outsourcing factory company, BISHO Chemical Co. With the opening of BISHO, we found other cosmetics companies were just as excited to work with us as our loyal customers had been for the past 50+ jears.

 

1988
award winning

In the 1980s, we appointed our former CEO, Kiyoshi Kawabata to lead our team at Kitao.  It’s been more than three decades with Kiyoshi Kawabata proprelling us forward in cosmetics, and as he says himself, “We never stop pursuing to innovate new products by striving to be creative.”

 

2019
100th celebration

We celebrated our 100th birthday the best way we know how-getting more products we love to our customers who have followed us on our journey ! In 2019, we launched KITAO MATCHA at Ulta Beauty and expanded our Kitao family even further.