Ash

What Ash does

Ash Co., Ltd. (Ash) is a regional hair salon chain operating more than 100 storefronts across the Greater Tokyo metropolitan area — spanning Tokyo's 23 wards and surrounding prefectures of Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba — with additional international presence through its NAOKI HAIR DRESSING sub-brand in Singapore. The company was founded in 2006, is headquartered in Yokohama, and operates under the umbrella of Arte Holdings. Its core offering is professional hairdressing services delivered through station-area locations, including cutting, coloring, perming (digital perm, Korean-style perm, feather perm for men), hair straightening/hair-quality-improvement treatments, and scalp care. The service menu is standardized across the chain but tier-priced by stylist rank (Top Stylist, Director, Creative Director with progressive surcharges of approximately ¥1,100, ¥2,200, and ¥3,300) and supplemented by long-hair length add-ons.

Ash monetizes through a unit-pricing, pay-as-you-go service model with first-time-customer coupons (e.g., cut+shampoo from ¥3,200) and bundled premium courses (cut+color+treatment from ¥12,000-¥22,000; premium straightening+system treatment reaching ¥33,000 at NAOKI Ginza). A growing secondary revenue stream comes from in-salon retail of the proprietary etra éclat professional hair-care line, including a 2026 summer mint variant. The company serves roughly 1.2 million customers annually across a diversified demographic mix — general consumers, women 20s-40s seeking Korean-style trends, men, mature women, and ceremonial-occasion students — with no enterprise or B2B customer exposure. Multi-brand portfolio strategy (Ash core plus men's Rolka, Korean-style ECHICA, premium NAOKI HAIR DRESSING, and other niche labels) supports segment-specific positioning within the same geographic footprint.

Name

Ash

Legal name

Ash Co., Ltd.

Website

https://ash-hair.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Ash Co., Ltd. is a Greater Tokyo hair salon chain operating 100+ station-area locations under the Ash brand and sub-brands (Rolka, ECHICA, NAOKI HAIR DRESSING), serving roughly 1.2 million individual consumers annually with cuts, color, perms, and straightening, and retailing its proprietary etra éclat hair-care line.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Hair Salon Services

NAICS

Beauty Salons (812112), Cosmetics, Beauty Supplies, and Perfume Retailers (456120), Soap and Cleaning Compound Manufacturing (32561)

SIC

Perfumes, Cosmetics & Other Toilet Preparations (2844)

akta.pro primary industry

Women's Hair Salons (HSALAAAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Men's Hair Salons (HSALAAAB), Professional Hair Care (Shampoo, Conditioner, Treatments) (CRABALAB)

Keywords

• Hair salon services
• Professional hairdressing
• Hair cutting coloring
• Perm straightening treatments
• Salon hair care products

Headquarters

HQ city

Yokohama

HQ country

Japan

HQ region

Asia

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Hair Salon Services: Core revenue from providing hair services including cuts, coloring, perming, straightening, and treatments. Services priced via tiered menu with stylist rank differentials (top stylist, director, creative director). Long hair additional charges apply.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Ash operates a regional chain of over 100 full-service hair salons across the Greater Tokyo metropolitan area (Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, Chiba prefectures) plus Singapore. Core services include cutting, coloring, perming (digital perm, Korean-style perm, feather perm), hair straightening/relaxing treatments, and hair quality improvement treatments. The chain also sells its own professional hair care product line (etra éclat brand) and operates an online booking, hair catalog, and recruitment platform.

Product overview

Ash operates as a regional hair salon chain providing professional hairdressing services across the Greater Tokyo metropolitan area. The company offers a unified platform of core salon services (cutting, coloring, perm, straightening, treatment) through over 100 locations, supplemented by proprietary hair care products (etra éclat brand) and specialty service modules (Korean-style perms, hair quality improvement treatments). The business model combines physical salon operations with digital services including online booking, hair catalog browsing, and recruitment portals. International operations are conducted through the NAOKI HAIR DRESSING sub-brand in Singapore.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• NAOKI HAIR DRESSING: Premium hair salon brand; overseas brand operating in Singapore and Ginza, Shibuya locations in Japan; features personal designer service from start to finish
• Rolka
• Remel
• ECHICA

Products and services

• Ash Hair Salon Services

Quantifiable outcome

• 1.2 million customers served annually across 100+ locations
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and minor.

• Miss International JapanflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 January 2026Ash served as the official backstage hair team for the 2026 Miss International Japan Representative Selection Conference held at Beauty & Wellness Professional University on December 9, 2025. This high-profile partnership demonstrates Ash's capabilities in handling professional hair styling for major events.
• ennic (エニック)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020ennic is a natural fermented hair and skin cosmetics brand. Ash features ennic products as part of their special content offerings, promoting the天然・発酵・肌髪コスメ (natural fermented hair and skin cosmetics) brand to their customers.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Mod's Hair Japan: Premium international hair salon brand with Japanese operations offering cutting, coloring, and styling services. Competes with Ash's NAOKI HAIR DRESSING sub-brand at the high end of the Tokyo salon market.
• ZEN Group: Mid-to-large Japanese hair salon group with locations across major Japanese cities, including a multi-brand portfolio and recruiting-driven growth model similar to Ash's のれん分け system.
• Afloat: Tokyo-based high-end salon group operating multiple premium locations across Tokyo. Direct competitor in the premium women's salon segment, with overlapping stylists, pricing tiers, and trend-driven menus.
• QB House: Japan's largest budget hair salon chain offering 10-minute no-frills haircuts (¥1,100) in station-area and high-foot-traffic locations. Competes with Ash for the same transit-access-driven customer base, though at the low end of the price spectrum.
• Hair cult (HairCult Group): Japanese multi-brand hair salon group with station-area locations across Kanto. Closest direct competitor to Ash in terms of chain scale, regional density, and station-front retail strategy.
• Aoyama Salon: Long-established Japanese salon brand with broad service menu including traditional and trending styles. Overlapping customer base with Ash in the women's salon segment across Greater Tokyo.
• Lum (Lum Group): Japanese hair salon chain with regional presence in Kanto and other areas. Competes directly with Ash on pricing tier, station-area footprint, and stylist-led service differentiation.
• KENJE Group: Japan-headquartered salon group with international footprint across Asia and Europe. Competes with Ash in Japan and abroad (where Ash operates via NAOKI), particularly in the premium styling category.

Others

• Arte Holdings: Parent holding company of Ash Co., Ltd. and its sister salon brands. Comparable as a roll-up vehicle in Japan's fragmented salon industry, with shared real estate, recruitment, and back-office functions.

Broad incumbents

• Toni&Guy Japan: Global premium salon brand with Japan operations. Competes with Ash primarily at the premium tier through international brand authority and technical training pedigree.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCuU7c0v6TxxAveUngDEfZ2Q
• Instagraminstagram.com/ash_recruit_official

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Ash