“Beauty Begins with Hair Care” was the theme of ampule magazine Vol.14. As this was our first issue dedicated solely to hair care since our founding, we decided to ask an industry expert for their candid thoughts after reading it.

We asked hair care writer Yumi Sato for her review. Here are her honest impressions in her own words!

WRITER PROFILE

Satoyumi Sato
Satoyumi

Born in 1976 on the Shiretoko Peninsula, Hokkaido. After working at a television production company, she transitioned to writing. Formerly a visiting associate professor at Tokyo Fuji University.

Director of the Satoyumi Business Writing Seminar. Editor-in-Chief of the media outlet ‘CORECOLOR’ run by seminar graduates.

As a book writer, she handles writing for business books, practical guides, educational books, etc., while also writing essays and columns for various media outlets with her unique perspective.
               
Her publications include: *   A Woman's Destiny Changes with Her Hair (Sanmark Publishing / 17th printing) *   I Want to Work in Writing (CCC Media House / 6th printing) *   Everything You Need to Know About Hair (Kanki Publishing / 7th printing) *   Mom Grows Up with You (Shogakukan / 2nd printing), a parenting essay. Her latest book is I Want to Publish a Book (CCC Media House).

https://satoyumi.com/

My apologies for meeting you for the first time, ampule magazine.

Working in this industry and not reading this magazine? I felt like I was a fraud, utterly ignorant. I read it while kneeling in seiza.

Then, from seiza to prostration.
Truly, I'm sorry I hadn't read it until now.

Your feature on hair texture stands apart from other media. Even someone like me who pays attention to hair trends (says I) found new information and thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

So why hadn't I heard of this magazine? Apparently, this is the first hair feature in its 14 issues. Ah, that explains it.

No way, that's not acceptable!
Hair is right at the heart of J-Beauty, I think!
The professions Japan can be proud of to the world are architects, sushi chefs, manga artists, and hairdressers! There are lots of Japanese people at popular salons in NY too!

Even if Korea has been pushing us aside lately, the influence of Asian hair product manufacturers is also huge.
Waaah! I want you to feature hair way more often.

ampule magazine, please cover it more often from now on. I beg you.
Please do me this favor!
May this issue get widely read and become a hit.

And so, it's a hair feature.

It's a bit of a hair writer's position talk, but yeah, hair really does change your life, doesn't it? I read it with a big grin on my face.

In this project, Hime-san's casting was absolutely perfect.
I thought it was a casting choice that perfectly matched the project's theme of “breaking the stereotypes of beautiful hair.”

Personally, I’d be thrilled if the day came when Hime-san graced a magazine cover.

I wish hair could embrace more diversity.
I hope everyone finds a hairstyle that lets them express themselves.

That’s why I feel the diverse hairstyles promoted by media carry such an important message.

My personal highlight was Fukuoka Minami’s line: “My monthly hair care budget is around ¥100,000—my motto is not to overdo it.”

I want to say that too!
I want to say “not to overdo it” while spending around ¥100,000 a month!
Truly the words of someone who earns millions and embodies beauty.

And something I've always wondered—her haircut is incredibly distinctive. I'm curious who cuts it!

ampule magazine, as far as I can tell, has no advertising pages or sponsored content. When I asked about their business model, they said they aren't focused on generating revenue from the magazine itself, but rather aim to increase consultations for their beauty marketing division.

When I was creating beauty pages for a fashion magazine, I often heard requests like, “Please feature this product somewhere!” It was difficult to create recommendation pages without any favoritism. We couldn't feature products we genuinely believed in for our readers. Some colleagues even quit writing because it pained them so much. That's why I appreciate ampule magazine—it seems less burdened by these kinds of “favors for favors” situations.

The hair care item chaos map must have been incredibly hard to create. As a writer, differentiating features like this is super tough. The fact that the copy touched on texture and even the feel during washing (meaning they must have tried every single one) made me think the writing was truly excellent.

Going forward, I'd love to see even more in-depth marketing insights—not just new product info from manufacturers, but also overseas trends and consumer trend research—leveraging Trendenders' strengths as the parent company.

Since this was the first hair feature, it felt a bit broad, but if hair-focused issues increase, I'm sure we'll see more in-depth features. I'm really looking forward to it.

Also, the trend forecast presentations and events sound exciting! Looking at past achievements, I definitely want to hear about the next ones!

The events are edgy and great too. Things like Shinobu Igari's “Parent-Child ‘Hair Education’ Project” sound incredibly interesting! I want to nurture my kids' ability to choose hairstyles that suit them too!

Beyond the magazine, I look forward to following such initiatives in the future.

And above all—I know I'm persistent—please give us more “hair issues”!! (Second time in three minutes)
May J-Beauty's “Hair Division” continue to expand worldwide.


Hair Writer Yumi Sato