Japan being the center of research and development emphasizes the fact that it is Asia so far for skin-whitening cosmetics. But since a major European–American cosmetic company has stressed the development of such products, development and market competition has intensified. The largest primary determinant of human skin color is melanin pigment produced by the melanocyte, which exists in the epidermal basal layer. Inside the melanocyte tyrosine, one of the amino acids, works as the substrate, producing the melanin pigment by the activation of the enzyme tyrosinase.