Japan

Traditional toys and games in Japan maintained dynamic current value growth in 2023. There were several trends that shaped this category; amongst them, purchases by adults continued to be a major growth driver and had a wide-ranging impact. These…

In 2023, baby and child-specific products in Japan returned to current value growth for the first time since 2020. Baby and child-specific sun care and baby and child-specific skin care saw the strongest increases, with baby and child-specific sun…

On 8 May 2023, the Japanese government announced that it would reclassify COVID-19 as a class 5 infectious disease, which is the same classification as seasonal flu. As a result, decisions regarding infection control are now left to individuals and…

The leading player in apparel and footwear specialists, Fast Retailing, has been focusing on experiences in its stores. Having both an offline and online presence, the retailer aims to differentiate its physical stores by providing customers with…

Increasing unit prices has been a decades-long trend in traditional watches. Especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, unit prices rose by over 10% YoY from 2020 to 2022. The last decade also saw numerous years of volume decline. A main reason behind…

Edible oils in Japan is set to see declines in both retail current value and volume terms in 2023, mainly due to a sharp increase in unit prices. The unit prices of various edible oils in Japan have been increasing rapidly, and overall edible oils is…

In 2023, soft drinks is set to record opposite performances in the on-trade channel and the off-trade channel. On 8 May 2023, the Japanese government downgraded the legal status of COVID-19 to Class 5, the level of common infectious diseases. This…

Off-trade volume sales of RTD coffee are set to record a slight decline in 2023. While increased opportunities to leave the home due to the containment of the pandemic drove sales, the summer heat dragged down sales. In 2023, Japan experienced an…

Store cards are often referred to as “Gaisho cards” in Japan. Gaisho is a department most often found in department stores, positioned somewhat like direct selling. Gaisho are elite staff members with high levels of skill and experience, and these…

Jeans experienced a significant drop in sales in 2020, followed by a year of stagnation in 2021 as COVID-19 prevailed in the country in these two years. Home seclusion, or “sugomori” in Japanese, was a hot term at this time. As society began to open…