Suzunoya's kimono empire shrank from 200 stores to bankruptcy in a generation

Suzunoya was one of Japan's oldest and most prestigious kimono retailers, founded in 1930 as a kimono merchant in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, and reopening after the war in Ueno. At its peak in the 1980s, it operated over 200 stores nationwide and recorded annual sales of ¥61.7 billion. The company was a fixture of Japanese ceremonial life — selling and renting kimono for coming-of-age ceremonies, weddings, and formal occasions.

The decline was generational. Japanese demand for kimono had been shrinking for decades as Western clothing became the daily norm and ceremonial occasions grew less formal. By the 2000s, Suzunoya was a shadow of its former self, sustained largely by the coming-of-age ceremony market and a loyal older customer base. The COVID-19 pandemic delivered a terminal blow: coming-of-age ceremonies were cancelled or scaled back, and the older customers who still bought kimono stopped coming to stores.

In 2024, the company attempted a restructuring by splitting its business — transferring the operating assets to a new company (New Suzunoya, owned by Maruyama-Kyosai Group) and renaming the old company Hirakawa. But the retained debts proved impossible to service. On May 21, 2024, Hirakawa filed for bankruptcy at the Tokyo District Court with ¥3.38 billion in debt owed to 314 creditors.