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HARA HACHI BU* CREATING BRANDS WITH VALUE “MUJI.”

The perfect start for a new year is always planning something new or better, starting with a new habit for the new year.

Implementing one of the Japanese lifestyle habits could be a good start. One of the best habits of the Japanese lifestyle is also having a 15-day decluttering period every year, starting to make space at home and get rid of all the heavy loads from the past. They called this ōsōji -ritually end of year cleaning process (Young, 2025).

In this blog post, this simple living idea will be the core of our case study MUJI brand. The underlying Marketing theory will focus on the creation of the first step of our Branding Building Strategy `` the BRAND CORE``.

As always, I would like to base the article on the ``Brand the Change`` book of Anne Miltenburg. And the case I have selected is a unique and old Japanese brand, Muji.


Miltenburg mentioned in her book that brands should build their brands like humans. We all have an inner core like our personality, beliefs (comes with our culture, also where we have been raised), and our character. That defines who we are. With that core, we reflect our identity in the outer self, our visual and verbal expression to the outer world. How we speak, how we dress up,  our postings online, what we do for others, and the community that we belong to.  And the third layer is our interactions with others (Miltenburg, 2018, p. 63). 

From the branding perspective, we can organize our brands into 3 different layers.

1)        Brand Core: Brand Essence, Vision, Mission, Values, Brand Promises

2)        Brand Identity: Verbal and Visual Identity

3)        Brand Interactions: Product and Services, Partnerships and Collaborations (your employees), Communications and Channels, Places and Events, People-Talent Behavior, Technology.


You can think of this system as an onion with different layers.

The problem with a lot of brands is that before they invest enough time and resources in the brand core, they would like to jump to the second layer, brand identity, the verbal and visual identity, their social posting, Instagram pages, etc. But if your brand house has not been built on a solid base, it is not healthy to make brand interactions with the third layer. This could be the main distinction between long-living and healthy brands and the others that had a very short life span.

Miltenburg created a brand thinking canvas where you can implement her visual strategies Miltenburg, 2018, S.170) to your brand. This is the anatomy of a strong brand, she said.

Today our focus will be ``The Brand Core

For sustainable brands, the brand core is built on the change that you want to see in the world (Miltenburg, 2018, p.63-64). There are two main questions:

1)Why do what you do and

2) What is your road to change?

The core consists of vision, mission, and values. On this core, you can build the brand promises. What would you like to do for your audience?

The brand core consists of 5 different overlapping parts:

1)        The brand essence

2)        The Vision

3)        The mission

4)        Values

5)        The Brand Promises


1)     The brand essence:            

Why are you here? Your reason for your existence.

It will be your main base, your anchor, the departure points for everything you do, your ideas for your products and services, and the basis of your communication strategy. How do you select the people for your brand? It is not easy to develop because whether you promote or brand a product, a service, a movement, etc. The brand essence is the most powerful asset that you have Milltenburg, 2018, p. 65).

A good example of how to create and implement the right brand essence is the MUJI

MUJI
MUJI

MUJI CASE:

Brand Essence of MUJI

無印良品. These kanji, pronounced Mujirushi Ryohin and shortened to MUJI, literally mean: “No brand, quality goods”.[1].(Muji Life)

Muji's design philosophy is minimalist, and it emphasizes recycling, reducing production and packaging waste, and a no-logo or "no-brand" policy (Muji, Wikipedia)

Muji's largest Flagship store in Miramar, Taiwan
Muji's largest Flagship store in Miramar, Taiwan

According to Wikipedia, Muji's design philosophy is minimalist, and it places an emphasis on recycling, reducing production and packaging waste. Their main policy is a no-logo or "no-brand policy.

The name Muji is derived from the first part of Mujirushi Ryōhin, translated as No-Brand Quality Goods on Muji's European website. (MUJI, Wikipedia). Martin Roll, who specialized in the success of Asian Brands, also summarized in his article “The Global Strategy Behind The Japanese No-Brand Brand” the story of brand success since the 1980s with the motto`` Less is more``. The tendency of Japanese customers to buy branded high-priced goods as a status symbol was exactly the opposite of what MUJI intended to do. They saw a growing trend for quality but affordable goods of high quality. They have designed their products without any unnecessary decoration or ornamentation. (Roll, 2020).

They have specified their Brand Purpose, meaning the Brand Essence, in the following words.

Our corporate purpose is to contribute to the creation of “a truthful and sustainable life for all through our products, services, stores and business activities; believing in a human society rich in heart, with a balanced relationship between human, nature and objects.” (Muji vision)

Another Japanese Philosophy which shapes the idea of simplicity and the space is “Ma” (間) - the space between things that creates rhythm, balance, and meaning. MUJI especially uses this idea in an experience that transcends cultural boundaries and teaches Western cultures that a space which is deliberately left with purpose is there to create new, meaningful things (Minegishi, 2023).

MUJI History


They started their business in 1980 with a very limited product assortment (9 household items, 31 food products). But even at that time, they focused on less packaging, labels of plain brown paper, packing also non-perfect products like U-shaped spaghetti, remnants of shiitake mushrooms to show the acceptance of imperfection (Roll, 2020, MUJI Product Archives).

MUJI`s first Product Offering in the 1980s
MUJI`s first Product Offering in the 1980s

They entered then in the late 198O`s their first store in London with the Joint Venture of Liberties. After they proved their success, they opened a second store in London (Roll 2020). Today, the brand has 1400 Muji stores around the world. (Muji, About)

Muji 2024 Product Categories
Muji 2024 Product Categories

2024

Muji carries thousands of items ranging from clothing and household goods to food and even houses. Every product is designed to be simple, neutral, multi-functional, and to improve the home experience (Roll, 2020: MUJI- Product Archives).

MUJI Financial Results

According to the financial data of the company in August 2025, despite the impact from the suspension of the online store in Japan, operating revenue and all levels of profit exceeded their expectations (Muji Financial Results).

Muji Financial Results Operating Revenue
Muji Financial Results Operating Revenue

Muji Financial Results Operating Revenue

At the end of the 2025 Operating Revenue JPY 784.6billion[2] (Approx 4.99 Billion USD) (18.6% increase YoY), Operating Profit JPY 73.8billion (469.78 million US Dollars). They have 1,443（Japan 701/ Overseas 742）stores around the world, with more than 28.432 coworkers, and their MUJI App has 17 million users (MUJI About; Macias 2025, Investing.com, Muji Financial Results).

 Muji is also a perfect case for global marketing, as they manage to use their leverage effects by decreasing costs while producing costly items in their exporting markets. They also try to stay local by opening development offices, like in China, to monitor the consumer needs more closely and adapt their products accordingly (Roll, 2020).  As a result, MUJI China revenue grew steadily in 2024, up 11.5%, and further in 2025 (Tanner, 2025, Investing.com 2025; MUJI Financial Results 2025).

This year, East Asia, dominated by mainland China operations, achieved an impressive 19.3% operating profit margin (Investing/com). Of the 1443 stores in the world, 426 are in China. The Mainland China business saw significant revenue and profit growth. Household goods, including skincare products, and Food continued to drive sales. Sales promotions such as W11 also performed well, with LFL store[3]  + EC sales in Q1 reaching 118.3% YoY (Muji Financial).

MUJI Regional Results
MUJI Regional Results

The main reason for success is also the increase of Muji’s 600-tsubo (about 21,000 square feet) large-format store, which has become a main reason for profitability. These stores are now being rolled out internationally, with Taiwan, Korea, and the Philippines as the next frontiers (Tokyoscope 2025).

And in terms of Europe and America business: `` Both revenue and profit in Europe and North America business increased as LFL store + EC sales posted double-digit growth`` (Muji Financial). With that, we can say that MUJI also recovered from its financial situation in the USA during 2020 after the hard COVID time, and also found a better strategy for the US Market compared to the COVID recession (Weissmann, 2020).


This Blog was only the introduction for the MUJI case:), soon you will see the details about their Brand Philosophy and the Brand Principles. How MUJI selects its materials, and its simple packaging strategy. How the support the locals, their partners, and care about their customers?


After explaining the brand essence, we are going to focus on Brand Vision, Mission, Values, and Brand Promises to complete the BRAND CORE.

Azra Bayraktar 5 February 2025.


References

Globis:`` The MUJI Way: When Nothing Becomes Everything in Retail''January 25, 2025;  https://globis.eu/the-muji-way/

Macias, Patrick: Why Muji Is Booming Again: The Strategic Revival Behind Japan’s Minimalist Brand, www.tokyoscope.blog/p/why-muji-is-booming-again-the-strategic

Miltenburg, Anne: ``The Brand Change``, BIS Publishers, Amsterdam, Netherlands, 2017, ISBN: 978-90-63947-8-4.

Minegeshi, Kyoko: MUJI’s "Ma” (間)’ Strategy: How Simplicity and Space Create a Global Brand

Tanner, Mark: 30 Apr, 2025 ``Going native: MUJI’s local strategy puts it back on track in China``https://chinaskinny.com/blog/muji-comeback-china-foreign-brand-relevance

Young, Nana: ``New Year’s Cleaning Tradition in Japan: A Fresh Start for the Year Ahead``

Weissman, Cale Gutrie: `` ‘You can’t just export the strategy’: How Muji’s US expansion faltered``, https://www.modernretail.co/retailers/you-cant-just-export-the-strategy-how-mujis-us-expansion-faltered/


1] Muji (無印良品, Mujirushi Ryōhin) 

[2]  1 JPY = 0.00636 USD (XE.com).

[3]  LFL Sales: Look for Like sales, which is a retail terminology (Year on Year) performance (generally Sales) when stripping out all new stores and closures (https://trailhead.salesforce.com/de/trailblazer-community/feed/0D5KX00000gUyDW0A0).

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