Tapping into hair loss industry

Japans hair loss industry is projected to grow to $7.23 billion in 2012

March 2010

Growth potential for hair transplants in Asia is big and this has prompted Japan-based company Toshka Holdings to expand its reach to Singapore.

Toshka's executive chairman and chief executive officer Nobuo Morishita (picture) believes younger Asians are likely to suffer hair loss in the next few years as a result of changing lifestyles and environmental influences in the region.

Japan's hair loss industry is projected to grow to $7.23 billion in 2012. In Korea, this figure is estimated to reach $4.34 billion.

Singapore is expected to mirror these figures, said Mr Morishita.

Toshka was founded in Japan back in 2003. In 2005, it inked its first consultancy contract with Realmore Clinic in Korea, followed by Motion Clinic in 2007.

Last year, the company signed a joint-venture agreement with ASG to run a hair transplant clinic at Paragon Medical Tower. Currently, the company is in the period of training and testing in Singapore and expects to launch its operations in the next few months.

The hair transplant, however, would come at a hefty price of $6,000.

And it would require some effort to educate patients on the cost-effectiveness of undergoing hair transplants instead of using wigs and other hair loss products.

But beyond vanity, Mr Morishita said their strong track record in Japan and Korea, plus their proprietary hair transplant machine and methods, will allow them to be competitive in Singapore.

Toshka's proprietary Quick Hair Restoration (QHR) system is an automated process of harvesting individual hair follicles from the back of the head and transplanting them to the bald portion using a hand piece with tube punches.

The procedure is less painful and creates higher density and more natural hairline, said Mr Morishita.

In the past six years, the company has performed over 13,000 operations in Japan and Korea.

It collects information from these procedures as part of its efforts to improve methods.

About 80 per cent of the company's revenue is derived from hair transplants, while 20 per cent come from sales of equipment and consumables such as shampoo and conditioner.

Currently, Toshka is also in the process of commercialising its QHR machine.

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