Korean SMEs hold 400+ export consultations with 81 Japanese buyers
A Korean company and a local buyer engage in a one-on-one export consultation at the 「K-Lifestyle B2B Export Consultation」 event. (Photo: KOTRA)
Amid a growing atmosphere of exchange following mutual visits by the leaders of Korea and Japan after last year’s APEC Summit in Gyeongju, a comprehensive marketing exhibition and consultation event, designed as a hybrid of culture and industry to facilitate entry and cooperation in the Japanese market, was held in the heart of Tokyo.
The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) held the 「K-Lifestyle B2B Export Consultation」 in Tokyo on May 7, in conjunction with ‘K-CON JAPAN,’ a global comprehensive K-festival event. A total of 48 small and medium-sized Korean consumer goods companies conducted over 400 one-on-one export consultations with 81 prominent local buyers, resulting in the signing of export MOUs worth a record-breaking $16.9 million.
This event was organized in conjunction with ‘K-CON JAPAN’—a comprehensive K-initiative festival (Every K Festival) created by K-pop fans and artists—to expand the local consumer trends shaped by Hallyu content into business opportunities. Through its support program for the joint overseas expansion of large corporations and SMEs, KOTRA collaborated with partners such as CJ ENM and the Korea Foundation for Cooperation of Large & Small Business, Rural Affairs, to assist promising Korean consumer goods companies in entering the Japanese market.
First held in the United States in 2012, K-CON is a global comprehensive K-festival event organized by CJ ENM. Since 2015, it has been held annually in Japan, except during the pandemic, serving as a key platform for the local spread of Hallyu. The frenzy for Hallyu content such as K-pop and K-dramas, sparked by K-CON, has translated into consumer demand for the entire K-Lifestyle, including beauty, fashion, and food. This is evaluated as having directly led to an expansion of consumer goods exports to Japan.
Over the past 10 years, exports of the five major promising consumer goods* to Japan have steadily increased (+31%). Notably, in the cosmetics sector, Korea has held the top spot in Japan’s import market share for five consecutive years since 2021. With cosmetics exports to Japan surpassing $1 billion starting in 2024, Hallyu is translating into tangible export performance. The enthusiasm was palpable at this year’s event.
During the consultations held on May 7, the response from Japanese buyers to K-beauty was particularly enthusiastic. Some companies attracted such high interest that their consultation schedules were fully booked before the event even began. This year, with expanded support for the beauty, household goods, and fashion sectors compared to last year, promising companies from four key areas—beauty, fashion, household goods, and food—participated, confirming the broad interest in the overall K-Lifestyle within the Japanese market.
The consultation also included 14 domestic-focused and novice export companies with limited export experience. A KOTRA official stated that the agency collaborated with the Korea Foundation for Cooperation of Large & Small Business, Rural Affairs to create this opportunity to help these early-stage companies enter the Japanese market, adding that they intend for this event to serve as a ‘stepping stone’ for their market entry.
In addition to the B2B consultations, KOTRA also invited prominent buyers to the B2C promotional event, K-Collection, held from May 8 to 10. This represents an integrated B2B-B2C export support model, designed to allow buyers to witness Japanese consumer reactions in real-time and facilitate the progression to export contracts.
Park Yong-min, Head of KOTRA’s Japan Regional Headquarters, stated, “Japan is a market where we anticipate stable growth, as the Hallyu wave driven by K-pop and K-dramas is moving beyond a temporary boom to become an established part of the overall lifestyle.” He added, “We will enhance the effectiveness of our support through culture-industry linked export marketing and will actively support K-consumer goods companies to help them increase their actual export performance.”
Jung Suk-yee
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