Asia Times: Despite hard times, shopping habits die hard



	January 15, 1999	atimes.com

Japan Economy

Despite hard times, shopping habits die hard
By Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO - Japan may be going through its worst post-war recession, but tell that to its big-time shoppers, whose appetite for collecting brand-name goods remains as avid as ever.

This may strike many as hard to believe, given the fact thatJapan's unemployment rate has exceeded 4 percent, a record highfor the world's second largest economy. Japan's economy isexpected to shrink by as much as 2 percent in 1999.

''The recession has definitely forced the Japanese to tightentheir purse strings, but ironically we are monitoring an upwardtrend when it comes to brand-good shopping,'' says HidehikoSekizawa, an analyst at Hakuhodo Lifestyle company, a privateresearch institution.

Indeed, this would be good news for foreign critics who havebeen berating Japan for a dismal consumption record, as its peoplecurb spending given the uncertain economic picture.

The issue of decreasing spending by pessimistic Japaneseconsumers are a bitter issue -- and not just at home.

In a bid to stimulate spending amid recession and in reactionto international pressure to revive its economy, the Japanesegovernment has proposed various steps, including a tax cut, inorder to encourage people to spend instead of stashing their moneyin savings accounts.

The government has pledged tax cuts and spending packagestotally at least 340 billion dollars, and is trying to increasepublic works spending as well.

In fact, officials have begun distributing cash coupons of20,000 yen (180 U.S. dollars) to some segments of the populationto get them to spend.

But analysts warn that the continuing craving for expensiveforeign goods, such as Gucci and Prada, has nothing to do withjudging the trends of domestic demand.

''The situation illustrates a unique aspect of Japanesesociety. There is a section that buys luxury items and thesepeople -- mostly single women -- have always bought these goodssimply to satisfy a craving to look good,'' explained TakashiUchiyama of Poop Deck, a well-known shop selling used brandedgoods.

Customers at Poop Deck, which continues to report brisk salesin the trade it has been in for little more than a decade, aremainly working Japanese women from their twenties to earlyforties.

These women would not bat an eyelid when forking out tens ofthousands of yen for a branded product because they put a premiumon quality, and equate happiness with looking good, say observers.

Japan's mania for brand names is well-known. It is why upscaleshops around the world have set up special sections that includeJapanese-speaking assistants, to cater exclusively to their mostimportant clientele.

Louis Vuitton, for instance, reports that Japanese customersaccount for one-third of the company's worldwide turnover.

Consumer watchers say surveys indicate that 80 percent ofJapanese women own a brand-name product. This despite the factthat their monthly salaries are usually at the level of 240,000yen (2,160 dollars). For ollege students, who work part-time topay for their clothes, the pay is less.

''As it is the custom in Japan, parents spoil their childrenrotten. They look after the needs of their children right throughtheir college days till they marry or have their own families,''explains Sekizawa.

''With more young people marrying later and later it meansthere are many women who are working and still living at home andtherefore have disposable cash,'' he adds.

But although the Japanese' penchant for branded wares continuesto be robust, shoppers have had to find new ways of financingtheir habit.

The recession has slowed outright purchases of brand goods indepartment stores -- once the norm during the bubble years of theeighties. Instead, the trade is now booming in pawnshops that seemto have found a niche in catering to Japan's consumerist cravings.

''There are now Japanese women who want to sell their brandproducts and buy another more expensive one to keep up with thefashion. The pawnshops, known as 'new wave' pawn shops, offer thema way to do this,'' says an owner.

The Japanese media recently highlighted this habit through thecase of 28-year-old Michiko. Even though her income is barely1,820 dollars per month, she has just bought a Grace Kelly bag for3,600 dollars.

She managed to do this by disposing of her Cartier watch, whichshe bought after selling her Chanel suit. All these transactionswere conducted in pawnshops.

Michiko's next target is a Hermes Barkin Bag, retail price5,400 dollars. She says she ''will burst into tears'' when shemanages to get her dream bag because it is one in a million.

Meantime, pawnshops dabbling in the branded goods business havetaken on the look of posh department stores. They have their ownmagazines and even hold cyber auctions on the Internet.

An owner of a pawnshop quoted in the Japanese media attributesthe buying and shopping habits to Japanese women who, he says, areraised in an atmosphere of mass consumption and have littleattachment to objects themselves. This is why they continue topurchase and sell the objects as easily as disposing tissue paper,the pawnshop owner theorised.

''In contrast to some countries, where people belonging toupper classes purchases these products, in Japan, which isbasically a classless society, young women do not hesitate to buythese (luxury) products just to amuse themselves and be cool,''explains Sekizawa.

But for the Japanese whose incomes have been cut due to therecession or do not deal with 'new wave' pawnshops, they haveturned to buying fake brand-name goods or copies -- to theconsternation of manufacturers of big European brands.

Louis Vuitton Japan reports that Japanese shoppers are theworld's biggest consumers of counterfeit goods. The FinanceMinistry, which seizes fake products coming into Japan, says theproblem seems to be getting worse.

(Inter Press Service)

back to the top

©1999 Asia Times Online Co., Ltd.