Addiction Tokyo launched in the US with a cult following — it lasted two years

Addiction Tokyo was a Japanese prestige makeup brand launched by Kosé Corporation, one of Japan's three largest cosmetics companies. The brand built a cult following in Japan and Asia for its single eyeshadows, lip products, and nail colours — a curated, professional-grade line that earned a reputation among beauty editors and makeup artists. By the early 2020s, it had a loyal enough base that a US expansion seemed like the natural next step.

Kosé launched Addiction Tokyo in the United States around 2023, with an English-language website and a standalone US online store. The brand had name recognition among beauty enthusiasts who followed Japanese cosmetics, but it faced the same challenge every Asian beauty brand encounters in America: building a retail presence and marketing spend from zero in a market dominated by Estée Lauder, L'Oréal, and a dozen direct-to-consumer insurgents.

On July 24, 2025, Addiction Tokyo announced via Instagram that it would wind down its US operations — just two years after entering the market. The stated reasons were tariff uncertainty and Kosé Corporation's lagging sales in North America. The parent company's overall North American performance was weak enough that the added cost of US tariffs on Japanese imports made the business case untenable. The US online store offered 25% off sitewide before closing.

The withdrawal did not affect Addiction Tokyo's operations in Japan or Asia, where the brand continues to sell. But the rapid exit — two years, a single online store, no retail footprint — made it a case study in how even a cult brand with a strong domestic base can miscalculate the cost and complexity of entering the US market.