Japan’s bakugai phenomenon fading fast

The drastic slowdown of the Chinese duty-free shopping phenomenon known as bakugai (“buying explosion”) continues to hit Japanese tax- and duty-free retailers, with several companies having sharp revenue falls in recent months.

As a result of the slowing market, South Korean travel retailer Lotte Duty Free and its partners Bic Camera and New Kansai International Airport Company have pulled out of a planned downtown duty-free shop proposed for Osaka.

The “bakugai” trend began in Japan in 2015 as travelling shoppers from China poured into Japan in waves, says The Moodie Davitt Report. This led to a proliferation of government-backed tax- and duty-free stores, and like all bubbles this one appears to have burst. Read more.