Japan

Luxury handbags remains the largest category in bags and luggage, but it is also set to be one of the hardest hit categories by COVID-19. These products rely heavily on visitors from markets such as China for sales and with Japan closing its borders ...

Watches has been hard hit by COVID-19 with sales set to drop by around one fifth in current value terms in 2020. The problems started in February 2020 with fewer Chinese visitors arriving in Japan to celebrate Chinese New Year. This is often an ...

Most products within personal accessories are seen as non-essential items and as such sales have been hit hard by COVID-19 in 2020. Not only have store closures made it more difficult to access products, but the closure of Japan’s borders has cut off...

Like most areas of personal accessories in Japan, sales of jewellery have a strong reliance on sales to foreign visitors and tourists. Chinese New Year is usually a particularly important time of the year for sales of jewellery in Japan; however, ...

Sales of writing instruments are expected to decline in 2020, but the effect of COVID-19 is not expected to anywhere near as significant as in other areas of personal accessories. A big factor in this is that a large proportion of the products ...

The strong trend towards blind collectables was a notable factor in the development of traditional toys and games at the end of the review period, providing a bright spot amongst the overall stagnation of the category. Takara Tomy has been a ...

Japan has taken a range of measures to control the spread of COVID-19 including the closure of non-essential stores such as traditional toys and games stores. Although this has made it harder to purchase some products the effect on sales has been ...

When it came to static consoles and hand-held consoles Japan saw mixed results in 2019. Nintendo Ltd extended its dominance with the launch of Nintendo Switch Lite proving a success in hand-held consoles following its launch in 2019, although it did ...

Sales of sunglasses in Japan have been decimated by the impact from COVID-19. The problems started in February 2020 as fewer visitors from China arrived to celebrate Chinese New Year. Luxury sunglasses suffered a blow from this with Chinese tourists ...

For consumers with eyesight problems the wearing of some form of eyewear is a daily necessity; however, despite this, sales are still expected to struggle in 2020. With consumers forced to spend more time at home due to the measures being taken to ...

Sales of spectacles have seen a significant slump in 2020, with the efforts to control COVID-19 taking a huge toll. While contact lenses and sunglasses have seen online sales flourish in recent years, when it comes to spectacles most consumers still ...

The consumer base for contact lenses and solutions continues to grow in Japan with eye health conditions impacting a growing number of consumers both young and old. Among younger consumers the growing usage of devices such as smartphones and tablets ...

Price fighter cigarillos continued to record dynamic growth in 2019 with these products attracting price-conscious consumers who have been impacted by the continuous price hikes seen in cigarettes. New ranges of cigarillos were also launched towards ...

In July 2018, Japan approved its first national legislation banning smoking inside public places, such as schools, hospitals, retail stores and restaurants. The ban was introduced in two stages starting in July 2019 with the second stage coming into ...

Despite measures being taken to control the spread of COVID-19, such as the closure of non-essential retail outlets and bars, there is not expected to be a large impact on sales of tobacco in 2020. As of 14 May 2020, Japan Tobacco’s four production ...

Despite the continuous investment in heated tobacco by Philip Morris, British American Tobacco and Japan Tobacco, the category started to register slower growth in current value and retail volume terms in 2019. This is attributed to the slow ...

The Japanese economy will contract sharply in 2020. Japan is struggling to contain COVID-19 and the 2020 Olympic Games have been postponed, which will have a profound impact on expected tourist arrivals. 2019’s sales tax hike will also limit consumer...

Fragrances continued to see healthy growth in current value terms in 2019 despite its traditional underdeveloped nature. Over the review period, both imported and domestic fragrances posted strong growth, which is likely mostly attributed to ...

Anti-agers continued to show momentum in 2019, supported by Japan’s rapidly ageing population who are becoming increasingly interested in products that can help them look and feel younger for longer. Recognising the potential of the category the ...

Over the review period there were several new products launched with extremely high prices, with this continuing in 2018/2019. For example, Kao Corp launched Est The Cream TR, which is a line of premium anti-agers which cost JPY30,000 (excluding tax)...