Addiction Tokyo

Addiction Tokyo is a Japanese makeup brand owned by Kosé Corporation. It was created by the New York-based Japanese makeup artist known professionally as Ayako (Ayako Yoshimura), who had spent years working under François Nars before proposing the line to Kosé. The brand's global flagship trades simply as ADDICTION, while ADDICTION TOKYO is the name it used for its branding outside Japan. Its range centres on colour cosmetics, led by an extensive eyeshadow collection, and extends into base makeup, nails, sunscreen and skincare.

The brand remains active in Japan and across East Asia, with collections published into 2026. Its separate United States operation, launched in 2023, closed in 2025 — a single-market exit rather than a global shutdown.

⚑ Thinner sourcing. The article relies largely on the brand's own statements (T2–T3). Glowpedia is seeking independent sources.

According to a Permanent Paper interview, Addiction was founded in 2009 by Kosé with Ayako Yoshimura at the helm as its creative director [5]. A 2011 interview with the beauty blog Rouge Deluxe instead dates the brand's establishment to "around 2007" [4]; that earlier figure most likely refers to the line's conception and internal development, while 2009 is the public launch year cited by later sources.

Ayako's route into the industry began in New York, where she moved at the start of the 1990s and trained as a makeup artist. She became a first assistant to François Nars and went on to serve as international makeup director for Nars, working on fashion shows and campaigns for houses including Chanel and Fendi. By her own account, the line was not handed to her: she conceptualised it herself with an art director and pitched the proposal to Kosé executives. She framed the goal in lasting terms, saying she "wanted to create something that would last in the world even when I'm not around" — contrasting the impermanence of a makeup artist's work with a permanent product line.

That biography shaped the brand's early positioning. Rouge Deluxe describes Ayako moving away from a Japanese convention focused on correcting flaws toward a New York approach centred on enhancement and individual style, and credits her with helping popularise a "nude makeup" look built on a luminous base using very little foundation.

The brand launched in 2009 with Ayako as founder and creative director, a role she held for a decade. She departed in 2019, after which Kanako Takase became creative director [5].

In 2023, Kosé brought the brand to the United States under the ADDICTION TOKYO name, opening on 8 September with a pop-up at Bloomingdale's 59th Street flagship in New York [6]. At the launch the company described the brand as a bestseller in Japan for more than fourteen years, and Kosé America's chief executive said the moment was the right time to introduce it to American consumers [6]. The US venture proved short-lived: in 2025, Business of Fashion reported that the label would leave the US market after two years [7], and the brand's US site posted a farewell stating that "ADDICTION TOKYO U.S. has closed."

Addiction Tokyo is owned by Kosé Corporation, the Japanese cosmetics group founded in 1946 by Kozaburo Kobayashi [6]. Within Kosé's portfolio it sits alongside other makeup and skincare labels, including Decorté. The brand has not itself made acquisitions.

The company presents makeup as a medium for self-discovery and a celebration of individual artistry. On Kosé's brand page, it describes ADDICTION TOKYO as a place "where beauty is not defined, but instead, liberated in its most authentic and vibrant form," and ties its colours and textures to the character of Tokyo "where beauty knows no bounds" [1]. Its stated concept, "EDIT YOUR MOOD," frames a palette of essential colours drawn from the working world of makeup artists.

Kanako Takase, the global creative director who succeeded Ayako, has described connecting to the brand's roots in makeup artistry and a goal of making products with professional performance that are still easy to use [6]. The brand is associated with J-beauty and, through Ayako's early work, with the nude-makeup style.

The brand's signature is its eyeshadow line. At the US launch it was presented with 99 shades in a range of textures [6], and the eyeshadows are described as the label's hallmark and a long-running bestseller in Japan. The current flagship range spans eyes, lips, cheeks, base makeup, nails, sunscreen and skincare, with featured items including the Smooth Matte and Smooth Glow Lock Mists, a Creamy Stick Eyeshadow, and a Lip Serum Tint.

Addiction Tokyo is active. Its global flagship site continued to publish new collections into 2026, among them a Summer 2026 release titled "GLIMMERING RAY" and a 2026 base-makeup line, "CONFIDENT FIX." The brand operates across Japan, Korea, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The 2025 closure applied only to its United States arm; the wider business and its global creative direction under Kanako Takase remain in place.