Lightec Achieves "V-Shaped Recovery" of 134% Compared to 2020, Overcoming COVID-19 Impact, on its 89th Anniversary. From Leading Smoking Goods Company to Comprehensive Lifestyle Enterprise.

Lightec Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Taito-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Takuro Hirota), a company engaged in the planning, manufacturing, and sales of various household goods, including smoking accessories, celebrated its 89th anniversary in June 2026. In conjunction with this milestone, we are pleased to announce that by accelerating the expansion of our business domains beyond conventional boundaries and the development and sales of a new category of lifestyle lighters, we have achieved rapid growth of 134% compared to 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Towards a Comprehensive Lifestyle Enterprise

Since its founding, Lightec has developed and offered products designed to bring color and richness to people's lives through tools that ignite, such as lighters. Since our establishment in 1937, we have continuously provided "enjoyment" adapted to the changing times. In recent years, as Lightec Holdings, we have maximized group synergy and expanded into diverse business domains such as wellness and lifestyle goods, not limited to our traditional core businesses of smoking accessories and electronic cigarettes (VAPE).

This expansion is driven by significant changes in the market environment. Increased taxes on cigarettes and passive smoking countermeasures have led to a rapid rise in establishments and facilities where indoor smoking has become difficult. Leading up to the Tokyo Olympics, ashtrays and trash cans were removed from public spaces, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, an increasing number of users switched to heated tobacco products, citing reasons such as "cannot smoke at home" and "walls getting stained." Against the backdrop of these societal changes, the usage scenarios for lighters themselves have significantly shrunk and transformed.

However, Lightec did not view this situation as merely adverse. While smoking rates were declining, the "culture of enjoying fire" such as bonfires, camping, candles, and incense, was actually expanding, and we were convinced of the potential that "fire" holds.

Therefore, we seized these market changes as an opportunity and, in parallel with the development of next-generation smoking devices like VAPE, we have earnestly engaged in establishing a new category of "lifestyle lighters" that are not solely for smoking purposes. As a result, the optimization of our revenue structure through diversification of our business portfolio and the successive hits of new category products in each domain have become driving forces, leading to a sales growth of 134% in fiscal year 2025 compared to 2020.

New Category and New Product Lineup

"Lifestyle Lighters" Proposing the Healing and Enjoyment Brought by Fire

We offer lighters that go beyond traditional smoking purposes as items to add richness and color to daily life.

Aburishi CANDLE WAND

Disposable Burner Lighter "Aburishi"

This is a disposable burner lighter in a kitchen torch style with a safety cap, born as the first product in our lifestyle lighters. By easily searing the surface of ingredients, it adds a savory aroma and visual appeal, elevating everyday meals. It comes pre-filled with gas and is ready to use straight out of the box. With an affordable price in the 500 yen range and a compact, portable size, it is useful in a wide range of settings, from home kitchens to outdoor activities.

Within the company, we have launched the "Aburishi Research Department" and are disseminating the joy of searing through social media. In approximately three and a half years since its release, cumulative shipments have surpassed 600,000 units (as of March 17, 2026), and sales continue to perform well with a year-on-year increase of 124.72%*.

*Based on company shipment value, comparing 2025 to 2024.

"CANDLE WAND" Awarded the Chicago Good Design Award

With the concept of "making the moment of lighting a candle a special time," this lifestyle lighter is inspired by a magic wand. It proposes a new value of transforming a lighter from something "kept in a drawer" to a "lighter to be displayed as interior decor." Its self-standing body can be enjoyed as an objet d'art in a favorite space. It features a plasma arc ignition system that does not produce an open flame, making it wind-resistant and safe, and its USB Type-C rechargeable and reusable design is also sustainable. Its design and safety features were recognized with the "Chicago Good Design Award 2025."

Development of Collaboration Products

Collaboration Details: https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000132.000050476.htmlCollaboration Details: https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000131.000050476.html

Leveraging our strength in lighters and related products, we engage in collaborations with various popular characters, apparel brands, artists, and IPs. Through limited-edition items that embody each other's worlds, we create products that go beyond mere merchandise, stimulating a desire for ownership and attracting new fan bases.

Food EC Site "Rabbit Run" to Add Richness to Daily Food and Life

We operate the food e-commerce site "Rabbit Run," offering products that add value to food and life. Celebrating its 5th anniversary this year, the site handles easy-to-incorporate foods, primarily dried fruits and mixed nuts, and continues to grow as a platform supporting daily health and abundant dining tables.

Site URL: https://rabbitrun.jp/

"Massage Oil" to Meet Self-Care Demand

Responding to the growing demand for self-care, we have developed and are selling the CBD massage oil "M-SPORTS." This is a high-quality massage oil luxuriously blended with 1500mg of naturally derived CBD, supporting an active and healthy lifestyle through post-sports recovery and daily body care.

Challenges of a Long-Standing Lighter Manufacturer

Founded in 1937, Lightec has for many years provided lighters and smoking accessories that are not merely ignition tools but also possess excellent design and functionality. On the other hand, the culture of fire is not limited to smoking. Fire brings color and richness to life through the warmth of gathering around a bonfire, the light of candles, or the ambiance created by aromatherapy and incense.

Based on this background, we are responding to the shift in needs from "monochisho" (product consumption) to "kotsho" (experience consumption) and expanding our business domain to the development and provision of lifestyle products that enrich daily life.

Moving forward, upholding our motto of "Creation and Challenge," we will continue to strive to provide products and experiences that make people's lives richer and more comfortable.

Company Overview: Lightec Co., Ltd.

Lightec is a long-established lighter manufacturer that has been producing and selling smoking accessories, including lighters, for over 80 years since its founding. With forward-thinking creation and challenge, we are committed to product development to be a light that illuminates society, tailored to our customers' lives and environments.

Company Name: Lightec Co., Ltd.

Address: 2-13-9 Asakusabashi, Taito-ku, Tokyo

Representative: Takuro Hirota

Founded: Showa 12 (1937)

Established: Showa 29 (1954)

URL: https://www.lightec-inc.jp/