by carterjmrn | Sep 30, 2019 | Carter Group Viewpoints
So after Kim Kardashian’s recent ill-starred attempt to culturally seize kimono (the word, not the garment) for her own, this seems like a fitting time to talk about the women’s fashion and beauty market in Japan. Consumers in Japan are some of the most sophisticated...
by carterjmrn | Sep 20, 2019 | Carter Group Viewpoints
As a consummate Japan watcher for nearly 35 years, I’ve often commented on the changing psyche of the Japanese consumer. We “Westerners” (i.e., North Americans and Europeans) have long held the belief that Japanese consumers are homogenous, that they are “followers,”...
by carterjmrn | Aug 20, 2019 | Carter Group Viewpoints
Psychologists have been telling us for years now that personal investment made in experiences, rather than material goods, is the happiest cash you can spend. In 2019, people increasingly crave and cherish authentic experiences that stay with them as memories (and can...
by carterjmrn | Aug 15, 2019 | Carter Group Viewpoints
You can knock on the doors of millions of residences in Japan 24/7—especially out in the countryside—and get no answer. That’s because these places are akiya, a term usually translated as “abandoned houses” but which also applies to properties that are simply...
by carterjmrn | Aug 13, 2019 | Carter Group Viewpoints, Japan Market Entry
While hugely popular across the Western world, Facebook failed to emulate the same level of success in Japan. The Japanese prefer other social media platforms, mainly those, like LINE, that are home-made. Why is that? When foreign companies enter the Japanese...
by carterjmrn | Jul 25, 2019 | Carter Group Viewpoints, Green Consumer
While the green branding and sustainable product market in Japan may trail that of other developed countries, you can’t say that it hasn’t made a splash. Starting as early as 2007, JMRN noticed that there was a strengthening demand for authenticity as many Japanese...
by carterjmrn | Jul 23, 2019 | Carter Group Viewpoints
In Japan, a drink or three temporarily flattens hierarchies and loosens tongues and inhibitions in all sorts of social environments, from companies to schools to clubs and beyond. What’s known as nomikai culture—which literally means “meeting to drink”—is most...
by carterjmrn | Jul 18, 2019 | Carter Group Viewpoints, Changing World of Work
In 2007, JMRN pointed out that young Japanese dads were starting to take a much more proactive role in parenting, and young moms were becoming much more independent with a deep-seated need to be recognized as autonomous individuals beyond the label Okaasan. The rising...
by carterjmrn | Jul 9, 2019 | Carter Group Viewpoints
It’s not very often that anyone gets to say they’ve witnessed the dawn of a new era, but on May 1st this year, with the enthronement of a new Emperor, all of us in Japan rang in the age of Reiwa. I renewed my driver’s license a few days later and was delighted to see...