Muji 無印良品

Muji began in December 1980 as Mujirushi Ryohin ('no-brand quality goods'), a private-label line created by supermarket chain Seiyu, part of the Seibu-Saison group. It launched with only around 40 items — household goods and food — as a deliberate reaction against Japan's brand-obsessed consumer boom of the era, stripping away logos, decoration, and excess packaging to sell honestly made products at lower prices.

Ryohin Keikaku Co., Ltd. was spun off in 1989 to run Muji independently, and the brand expanded from groceries and stationery into clothing, furniture, and home appliances defined by plain colors, natural materials, and functional simplicity. Muji opened its first overseas store in London in 1991 and has since grown into a global lifestyle retailer while keeping its founding philosophy of understated, no-brand design.