Reporting and analysis on retail, e-commerce, and consumer trends in Japan, updated continuously by our newsroom.
Japanese personal care company Shiseido has started buying up tech companies as a gambit to cater to a younger generation of buyers. Shiseido last year sold ¥1 trillion (US$9.3 billion) worth of beauty products last year, mostly in traditional stores.…
In a world-first concept, every aspect of the store is modular from the digital façade and displays to the decor. It offers customers immersion in the brand universe with its omni-channel buying experience. A highlight are the iTags, the brand’s connected…
Japan’s NTT Docomo has completed a trial involving the use of 5G technology to conduct remote medical examinations. The trial in the sparsely populated Wakayama Prefecture used base station equipment provided by NEC. It was conducted in collaboration with the…
First-quarter growth has been reported by sportswear company China Dongxiang Group, which owns all rights to the Kappa brand in China, Macau and Japan. Same-store sales, excluding the Kappa Kids and Japan businesses, achieved “mid-to-high” single-digit growth…
US-based cloud networking provider GTT Communications has launched a new PoP in Osaka Japan as part of an expansion of its global Tier 1 network. The company has also opened four new PoPs in the US – in Charlotte, Kansas City, St. Louis and Reno – and one in…
British womenswear label Alexachung has marked its Asian expansion with a series of Tokyo pop-ups, starting earlier this month. Alexachung hopes the pop-ups will build brand awareness and boost sales thanks to a “very loyal” Japanese customer base. “Our goal…
In an era when branding has never seemed so important, the enduring success of Japan’s Muji might seem perplexing to many retailers. Almost every day fashion houses reveal new collaborations – often with unlikely bedfellows, like Louis Vuitton and Supreme or…
Japan’s KDDI and Nokia have completed trials of LTE connected vehicle applications including the first vehicle based LTE broadcast trial. During a trial on the island of Hokkaido, the companies implemented evolved multimedia broadcast multicast service…
Bensimon Japan has opened a concept store in Tokyo, the fourth international outlet for the French label. Launched with its two local partners, Itochu and Look, the unconventional store in the Daikanyama district covers about 100sqm on several floors and…
Nissan is deepening collaboration with a Japanese mobile gaming and communications giant to develop self-driving taxis. Nissan wants the partnership to lift it ahead of its rivals in the nascent vehicle mobility services segment. But when it comes to…
Japan’s KDDI has teamed up with venture capital firm Global Brian to establish a new fund to support startups which can boost the operator’s capabilities in 5G and other technologies. The Japanese telco plans to invest 20 billion yen ($186 million) over the…
Japanese restaurant chain Miyagawa Honten has opened its first overseas outlet with Unagiya Ichinoji at Singapore’s Robertson Quay. Its Japanese head chef trained for three months in a Miyagawa Honten outlet to master the skills needed for creating unagi. The…
Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten has secured government approval to deploy 4G mobile services in the 1.7-GHz frequency band, and now plans to launch as the nation’s fourth mobile operator in October. New subsidiary Rakuten Mobile Network plans to raise up to…
Japanese office furniture maker Kokuyo is to open retail shops in Thailand targeting the growing ranks of people who work from home. Kokuyo Thailand is a joint venture between the Japanese parent (which holds 49 per cent) Central Group and local furniture…
A consortium led by RTI Connectivity has commenced construction of a new subsea cable linking Japan, Australia and the US territory of Guam. The Japan-Guam-Australia Cable System (JGA) is being built by a consortium consisting of RTI Connectivity, Australia’s…
As part of its plan to become the country’s fourth mobile carrier, Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten is teaming up with a handful of local electric utilities to leverage the latter’s infrastructure and facilities to build its own 4G mobile network in Japan.…
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