Daily Skincare for Everyone

MUJI 無印良品

The story of the waterFrom a drop of natural water to become toning water

Just visible through the thick fog,
Mt. Omine appears wrapped in a blanket of moist air.

Water is the key source to our skincare products.
Read the rest of the story of the pure, natural water collected from the cave in Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture.

Located between Kamaishi and Tono cities in Iwate Prefecture, Mt. Omine was once home to a now-abandoned iron ore mine.
The mountain today is home to a forest of beech and oak trees and a source of water from rain and melted snow that is filtered slowly over decades through layers of limestone, magnetite, and granite.
Travelling by trolley some three kilometres along the old mine shaft, we reach natural water buried 600 metres below the mountain peak.
Here, extremely fine water drips quietly and steadily from between layers of bedrock.
This is ultra-soft water with a low mineral content and the same slightly alkaline pH balance as our tears, which is easily absorbed by the skin.

This single drop of soft, smooth-tasting water is the result of years and years of natural filtering.

Liquid containers are filled with water collected from mountain bedrock, filtered, and thermally sterilised.
At the factory, the water is moved to the stirring tank without exposing it to the atmosphere.

The water is placed in containers, transferred from cargo trains to trucks, and transported to our cosmetics factory in Hyogo Prefecture. The journey takes about four days.
As soon as it arrives at the factory, the water is siphoned from the container to a stirring tank by hose, avoiding exposure to the atmosphere.
The water is continuously stirred and is kept at the optimal temperature while each of the 10 different ingredients, including plant extracts, are added. During this process, water samples are checked for viscosity and pH value. After being slowly stirred for seven to eight hours, the water is given a final filtration and our gentle, thickened toning water is ready.

Polyquaternium-51, a moisturiszer inspired by the cell membranes in the skin, is added to the stirring tank.
After being cleaned with compressed air in the machine on the right, bottles are filled with toning water in the machine on the left.

The toning water is carried to the filling room where bottles are filled under the strictest sanitary conditions.
Our production line fills approximately 1,500 bottles an hour, approximately 10,000 bottles a day. While the majority of the process is automated, line workers who provide machine support and oversee product quality control are essential to production.
Spot checks are performed every hour to ensure that MUJI toning water is produced to our standards.

After passing a final inspection, this bottle of toning water is ready to begin its journey to a MUJI store somewhere around the world.