November 2025 Issue

FOCUS:

Japan’s Convenience Store Sector in 2025: top chains differentiating more than ever

That the convenience store market is saturated is well-known, as is the fact that labour shortages are constraining sector development. What is less well-known is the serious amount of new competition on the one hand and the intense levels of work the top chains are putting in to innovate their way out of trouble and move on to new, fertile pastures of growth. This also means high levels of differentiation across prices, tech, services and merchandising, making each chain much more distinctive and a fascinating example of where Japanese retail is headed.

Nigo to IPO Human Made

A Bathing Ape was a major success in the eyes of customers, but behind the scenes, founder Nigo became a victim of this very success. Human Made is a different story, structured to give the designer full rein creatively but with experts in operations and marketing making the whole project more sustainable. The result is an IPO this month, representative of the potential for Japan’s creative talent.

Editorial: Not your grandfather’s convenience store

Izumi: 300 supermarkets by 2035

Izumi is joining the race to buy up more of Japan’s food and FMCG retail share. Currently one of the dominant players in Kyushu, Izumi says it will use M&A to increase store numbers over the next decade, pivoting more towards food rather than its traditional GMS format.

Big 3 dominate e-commerce market

Amazon, Rakuten and Yahoo Shopping continue to gain share of the e-commerce market and now own more than 70% share according to recent analysis by Nint.

Nugu and Musinsa grow fast on K-fashion boom

Korean fashion brands are legion in Japan right now, but so are enablers in the form of platforms and distributors. Qoo10 previously had much of the market to itself, but Nugu and Musinsa are rapidly gaining ground.

Yaoko spearheads M&A rush in supermarkets

Yaoko is now called Blue Zone Holdings, and is shaking up Japan’s supermarket landscape by acquiring two well-matched regional chains just weeks after its launch. Blue Zone signals a new wave of M&A as barriers to supermarket consolidation finally start to fall.

Onward’s Kashiyama attracts 50% more teen customers

Onward has quietly transformed its business from wholesale to omnichannel retail, and, even more remarkably for a company whose average customer age was until very recently over 50, its Kashiyama suits chain now appeals to teens and 20s. The chain exemplifies how much this previously staid wholesaler has changed.

First joint Trial Seiyu store opens

Trial is moving quickly to integrate Seiyu following its ¥380 billion acquisition in July. It will open the first Trial Seiyu combined store and also the first Trial Go store in Kanto, both this month. Already, more than 600 stores in the group are stocking private brands from each banner.

United Arrows Expands Korean Brands

United Arrows is beginning to flex its market power by launching more new brands rather than just iterations of its eponymous name, with a strong start for its Korean licenses, Nice Weather and Osoi.

Aeon Kyushu: the future is small format supermarkets

Aeon Kyushu will accelerate rollout of its new, small store formats, emulating its parent company’s strategy in Tokyo and challenging local players like Cosmos Yakuhin and Trial. A year after opening the first small-format supermarket, it has added an ultra small Maxvalu Express in Fukuoka.

Muji: closing in on ¥1 trillion with fresh ideas

Ryohin Keikaku has once again exceeded expectations, posting record sales and profits that suggest its near-term ¥1 trillion target will easily be reached. While worries over ubiquity remain, the trusting relationship between customer and brand has allowed rapid and successful category expansion which should deliver those targets.

Retail Data: Malls and department stores both up 1.4%

IN BRIEF

Karuizawa T-Site to open next March

Sanki Shoji signs Franzi

Valor opens specialty food stores

Godiva to open bakery in Seibu Ikebukuro

Kansai International expanding retail options

Mitsui Fudosan to open Omotesando Grid Tower

J Front and Komehyo hit ¥100m in brand buy-back

35 Large Store Submissions for September

TSI finds growth in new brands

Older women shop to relieve stress

Child-rearing costs rising

4°C Holdings grows on watch reuse boom

J Front to open luxury mall in Nagoya

Zara opens new store in Shinsaibashi

Jade takes control of Royal

Takashimaya to close Kyoto Rakusai store

Sanyo Shokai posts loss again

Basegate Yokohama Kannai to open next spring

Digital fashion firm Synflux raises ¥250 million

Daiso’s Standard Products hits 200 stores

Supermarket sales up for 31 months

Bic Camera starts online subscription service

Cainz to acquire Daito online store

Brands and Companies in this Issue

Adastria, 1
Aeon, 2, 7, 11, 15
Alpha Industries, 7
Anfilo, 9
BAPE, 3
Basegate Yokohama, 11
Beams Shibuya, 9
Bic Camera, 13
Bioral, 11
Black Sands, 5
Blue Zone, 2, 7
BTS, 1
Cainz, 13
Cawachi Yakuhin, 1
CentralWorld, 13
Chubu Foods, 3
Cosmos Yakuhin, 11
Create Co, 5
Crooz, 5
Curry Up, 1
Daily Yamazaki, 15, 17
Daimaru, 1
Daimaru Matsuzakaya, 9
Daiso Sangyo, 12
Daito, 13
Dash Pro, 13
Daytona, 7
Delica Kitchen, 3
Demon Slayer, 16
Dickies, 10
Familymart, 9, 14–19
FamiPay, 16
Fast Retailing, 3
Franzi, 3
Genky Drugstore, 1
Ginza Six, 5
Godiva, 3
Goldwin, 11
Green Lawson, 17
Halmek, 7
Hankyu, 1
Honeys Holdings, 1
Human Made, 1, 3
Isetan, 1
Itochu, 7, 19
Izumi, 1–3, 7
Jade Group, 9
Japan Post, 19
Joinus, 20
Joseph Aboud, 8
Kagome, 18
Kaws, 3
KDDI, 14, 16–17, 19
Komehyo, 5
Lawson, 14–19
Le Chocolat, 3
Locondo, 9
Lopia, 2, 7
Lucua Irie, 8
Margaret Howell, 7
Matsuzakaya, 1, 5, 9
Maxvalu, 11
Maxvalu Express, 11
Mediquitous, 5
Megrus, 5
Ministop, 15, 17
Mitsubishi Estate, 3
Mitsubishi Shokuhin, 7
Mitsui Fudosan, 11
Mitsukoshi, 1
Miyuki Wool, 9
Muji, 1, 9, 12–13
Musinsa, 1–2, 5
Nagasakiya, 7
Natural Lawson, 17
Neutral Works, 12
Newdays, 17
Nice Weather, 10
Nigo, 1, 3
Nike, 1
Nippon Access, 7
Nitori, 1, 12–13
NTT, 19
Nugu, 1–2, 5
Onward Crosset, 8–9
Onward Holdings, 8
Osoi, 10
Parco, 5, 9
Pearly Gates, 7
Pocari Sweat, 18
Ponta Yorozu, 18
Poplar, 15–17
PPI, 7
Qoo10, 5
Rakusai, 10
Rakuten Shop, 10
Rashisa, 5
Rowing Blazers, 9
Ryohin Keikaku, 12–13
Sanki Shoji, 3
Sanrio, 3, 16
Sanyo Shokai, 10–11
Save On, 17
Scearn, 8
Secoma, 17
Seibu, 9
Seicomart, 15
Seiyu, 7, 9–10, 12
Seven Eleven, 2, 14–19
Shimamura, 1
Standard Products, 12–13
Synflux, 11–12
Takanawa Gateway, 16
Takashimaya, 1, 10
Topvalu Green, 11
Trial Go, 9–11
Trial Seiyu, 1, 9
Tsuruha, 1
Uber Eats, 2, 14, 16
Uniqlo, 1, 13
United Arrows, 1, 10
Unlike Blue, 3
Uny, 7
Valor, 3
Verdy, 3
Waterfront, 7
Wego, 9
Yamazaki Bread, 17
Yaoko, 1, 7
Yurindo, 11
Zara, 9
Zozo, 5, 13