For international fans of Japanese anime, manga, and games visiting Tokyo, one of the dream experiences is receiving professional-grade Japanese cosplay or transformation makeup from artists who actually do this work for celebrities, photoshoots, and stage performances. Hair Make Salon M’s — a by-appointment-only salon located 2 minutes on foot from Takadanobaba Station — specializes in exactly this kind of work. This article showcases four professional makeup demonstrations from M’s archive, so you can see firsthand the level of craftsmanship you can experience when visiting the salon during your trip to Japan.
About Hair Make Salon M’s (Tokyo · Takadanobaba)
Hair Make Salon M’s (ヘアメイクサロン エムズ) is operated by M’s Inc. (M’s 株式会社), an independent Japanese hair & makeup company. The salon is located 2 minutes on foot from Takadanobaba Station, on the JR Yamanote Line in central Tokyo — easy access from Shinjuku, Shibuya, Akihabara, or any major Tokyo hotel.
- Operating company: M’s Inc. (M’s 株式会社) — independent salon company
- Address: 高田馬場4-9-11 藤和高田馬場コープ502, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 169-0075
- Hours: 11:00 – 18:00 daily (early/late hours by consultation)
- By-appointment-only salon (完全予約制)
- Specialty: Japanese anime/game character cosplay makeup, transformation makeup, realistic doll makeup, special-effect makeup, K-POP idol-style makeup, kawaii (かわいい) styling
- Director: Eriko Matsumoto (松本江里子) — 20+ years of professional hair & makeup experience, toured 20+ countries with international artists, with notable Japanese TV credits
- YouTube channel: M’s Hair Makeup Channel — featuring full makeup process videos
Rooted in J-POP — Japanese Pop Culture, Anime, Manga & Cosplay Heritage
Hair Make Salon M’s is deeply rooted in J-POP — Japanese pop culture. The salon’s specialty has been built on decades of work inside the Japanese entertainment industry: anime/manga character cosplay, Japanese game (such as Twisted-Wonderland) character cosplay, visual-kei, jirai-kei, ryōsan-kei, traditional Japanese aesthetics, and special makeup that appears in Japanese TV variety shows.
This positions M’s as a destination salon for international fans who specifically love Japanese pop culture — anime, manga, J-pop music, Japanese games, Japanese influencer culture — and who want their cosplay or transformation makeup done by professionals deeply rooted in that culture. M’s professional artists understand the visual language of Japanese anime / game / manga characters from the inside, allowing for character reproduction at a level that is rare to find outside of Japan.
Four Professional Makeup Showcases
Below are four English-narrated videos from M’s Hair Makeup Channel, showing the actual professional work performed at Hair Make Salon M’s. The videos are in English, so you can follow the techniques and understand the artistry regardless of your native language.
1. Yoko Kumada Transforms Into Nezuko (Demon Slayer / Kimetsu no Yaiba)
Yoko Kumada (熊田曜子) — one of Japan’s well-known gravure models — is transformed into Nezuko Kamado, the iconic younger sister character from “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” (鬼滅の刃), arguably one of the most internationally successful Japanese anime IPs of the past decade. This video walks through the complete makeup process: shaping the eyes to match Nezuko’s anime-style proportions, the soft pink lip color, and the overall innocent-yet-fierce expression. M’s artists demonstrate how a real human face is transformed to faithfully evoke a 2D anime character.
2. Tanjirō Kamado’s Look Recreated by Professional Hair & Makeup Artist (Demon Slayer)
Tanjirō Kamado — the male protagonist of “Demon Slayer” — is recreated through M’s makeup artistry. This video is a great showcase of the salon’s expertise in male character cosplay and cross-gender transformation makeup: the iconic forehead scar, the determined samurai-era expression, the eye reshaping that captures Tanjirō’s signature look. Cosplayers who plan to cosplay male characters (regardless of their own gender) will find M’s level of craftsmanship rare even by international standards.
3. Realistic Doll Makeup with the Hiura Twin Sisters
The Hiura Twin Sisters (日浦双子) — popular Japanese influencer twins — receive M’s signature realistic doll makeup treatment. Realistic doll makeup is a specialized genre in contemporary Japanese makeup culture, transforming a real face into a hyper-realistic ball-jointed doll (BJD) aesthetic. This style requires extreme precision: eye-line lengthening, lip shaping, blush placement, and skin tone unification, all to produce the uncanny “this looks like a doll, but it’s actually a person” effect. M’s is one of very few salons in Tokyo that offers this style at a professional level.
4. Idia Shroud Cosplay Makeup (Twisted-Wonderland / TWST)
A complete character cosplay makeup for Idia Shroud, a character from “Disney Twisted-Wonderland” (ディズニー ツイステッドワンダーランド) — the Disney-Japan collaboration mobile game that has become a global phenomenon, particularly within the international female cosplay community. M’s makeup artist demonstrates how Japanese makeup technique adapts to bring a stylized 2D Disney character to life: signature flame-haired aesthetic, the angular Disney villain-styled silhouette, and the precise color palette work that makes Twisted-Wonderland cosplays so visually iconic.
What You Can Experience at Hair Make Salon M’s
The four videos above are not exceptions — they represent the everyday level of work M’s professional artists deliver. If you are visiting Japan and you’re a fan of anime, manga, J-pop, Japanese games, or simply want to experience high-craft Japanese makeup artistry, here is what M’s offers:
For Cosplayers & Anime / Manga / Game Fans
- Character cosplay makeup — bring your character reference photo, M’s reproduces the look
- Realistic doll makeup — hyper-realistic BJD-style transformation
- Visual-kei / Jirai-kei / Ryōsan-kei makeup — Japanese alternative aesthetic styles
- Cross-dressing makeup — male-to-female (女装) and female-to-male (男装), genderless styling
- Photoshoot opportunities at the salon (subject to availability)
For Casual Visitors
- Kawaii (かわいい) styling — the iconic Japanese aesthetic
- Photoshoot-ready makeup for influencer / SNS content
- Date / portrait / oshikatsu (推し活) makeup
- Visual-kei, jirai-kei, ryōsan-kei — Japanese alternative aesthetic styles
Menu & Pricing
- Hair Set A (30 min): ¥3,500 — straight / curl / men’s natural
- Hair Set B (40 min): ¥4,500 — updo / half-up / twin / braids
- Hair Set C (60 min): ¥10,000 — special hair decoration set
- Makeup A (30 min): ¥5,500 — natural brown-base
- Makeup B (30 min): ¥6,500 — color & glitter (oshikatsu / dates)
- Makeup C (45 min): ¥7,500 — special-effect / K-POP idol / cross-dressing / jirai-kei / ryōsan-kei / visual-kei
- Hair Set + Makeup Lesson (90 min): ¥15,000
⚠️ A Note on Cosplay Makeup Pricing
Cosplay character recreation (like the showcases above — Nezuko, Tanjirō, Idia Shroud, realistic doll) is fully customized work. The pricing and time required vary significantly based on the character, complexity (number of looks, prosthetics, body painting, etc.), and reference fidelity you want to achieve. Please contact us first so we can give you an accurate quote based on the specific character/look you want.
For the full menu and detailed salon information, please see the dedicated M’s salon profile: Hair Make Salon M’s Tokyo
How to Book When Visiting Japan
- Plan ahead — character cosplay and transformation makeup require preparation. We recommend contacting the salon 2-4 weeks before your visit, especially for complex cosplay (you’ll want time to share reference photos and discuss the look).
- Direct booking: Hair Make Salon M’s accepts bookings via the salon’s official LINE account. If you read or use translation tools, you can communicate directly.
- English-language assistance: If you prefer to coordinate in English, you can use Hairmake Matching Inc. (Hairmake Matching Inc.) as a bridge for inquiries. Hairmake Matching is an independent company that handles English communication and can help relay your booking request to M’s. (Note: M’s Inc. and Hairmake Matching Inc. are separate independent companies; Hairmake Matching simply offers English-speaking support and salon recommendation for international visitors.)
- Bring your reference — image references of the character/look you want are essential. Photos of your idol, anime character screenshots, doll references, etc.
- Photoshoot — if you want photos at the salon, mention this when booking so the schedule allows time after the makeup is complete.
About M’s Hair Makeup Channel (YouTube)
The four videos above are from M’s Hair Makeup Channel on YouTube. The channel showcases the actual professional work performed by M’s makeup artists — including cosplay tutorials, transformation makeup demonstrations, and behind-the-scenes content. For makeup artists, cosplayers, and anyone interested in Japanese professional makeup technique, the channel is a unique window into the inside of a working Tokyo salon. We recommend subscribing if you want to see more of M’s work.
All four videos in this article are official content of M’s Inc. (M’s 株式会社), the operating company of Hair Make Salon M’s. Featured talents (Yoko Kumada, Hiura Twin Sisters) appeared in the original videos with the talent’s consent at the time of production.
Plan Your Tokyo Cosplay Experience at M’s
If you’re traveling to Tokyo and want professional Japanese cosplay or transformation makeup at the level shown in the videos above, Hair Make Salon M’s is ready to welcome you. Use the contact below to coordinate your booking in English.