March 2026 Issue
AI boosts shopping on Big 3 e-commerce platforms
Competition among the big three e-commerce platforms and the wider sector continues, with all three firms leveraging investment in AI, ecosystem capture, and improved customer service to grow market share, but last year only Amazon outperformed the sector by a significant margin.
Editorial: 2026: it’s not all expensive rice
Parco to close in Fukuoka, posts record sales
J. Front Retailing is closing Parco Fukuoka in 2027 to make way for a district-wide redevelopment, while acquiring a landmark Kobe property to deepen its share there – part of a broader shift from ageing standalone buildings towards integrated, experience-led urban development. It is also putting Parco executives in charge of department stores following record results for the mall operator.
Hot summers force retailer rescheduling
Retailers and brands are planning for another extremely hot summer, reshaping assortments, calendars, and inventory discipline for heat as the default. Chains are being forced to rethink buying timetables and store displays, introducing more flexibility to match real-time weather.
Household spending up in 2025, but December was rough
Full-year household spending data shows increases across most categories and a small dip in net savings contributions – although 2025 still brought the second-highest savings figure on record at ¥194,849 a month for working households. December was less good, with households reluctant to spend after lower bonuses and a bruising year of inflation.
OK expanding fast in Kansai
After only opening its first Kansai store in November 2024, OK Super added its seventh store in the region in January, with six more due to open this year. OK’s immediate success there shows how Japanese consumers actively prefer reliably low prices rather than the old ‘bargain of the week’ favoured by traditional supermarkets.
Asics closes in on ¥1 trillion but still lacks support at home
Asics delivered another record year in FY2025, but while the sports brand has usually relied on overseas markets for its growth, last year Japan led, up 35%. However, roughly a third of domestic sales came from inbound tourists buying the Onitsuka Tiger brand, so Asics still needs to address its relatively weak brand perception among Japanese.
Recovery wear boom: will it last?
Japan’s recovery wear boom is drawing in mass retailers like Workman, Nitori, and Aeon alongside premium brands like Tential – but with 21 million units hitting the market soon, saturation may happen faster than the forecast threefold growth suggests.
Will Takaichi solve the rice problem?
Without lower rice prices, consumer sentiment will remain weak, impacting all parts of the market. Consumers would welcome the proposed temporary pause in consumption tax on food, but even that would be a sticking plaster for a rice distribution system that requires structural reform.
Workman back on track?
Workman has returned to its roots, focusing on basics that are dramatically cheaper than the competition but which offer enough functionality to draw in customers, with same-store sales now growing for most of 2025.
Kusuri no Aoki: another retailer under activist pressure
Kusuri no Aoki is hugely successful but shareholder pressure is a problem and this provides an insight into some of the current dynamics in the retail sector now that foreign capital is so involved. Like Tsuruha, the Ishikawa company faces activist fund intervention and, also like Tsuruha, Aeon seems to be waiting in the wings to snap up the company.
FOCUS
100 Yen: the people’s store and still going strong
Not many overseas brands interact directly with the 100 Yen shop sector but chains like Daiso and Seria are bellwethers for consumption trends, particularly reflecting demand for value in an age of skyrocketing prices on basics. Everyone in Japan, even the most affluent households, shop at these stores, so they are worth keeping track of. The sector remains alive and well, with the leaders thriving despite much greater pressures on profitability due to the fixed price model, higher sourcing costs and wages.
Retail Data: January great for shopping malls
IN BRIEF
Life Gear signs Geox
TBS buys 100% of Plaza
Itochu invests in Bookoff
Japan delivers double-digit growth for Hermès
Beisia plans new mini-supermarket for Tokyo
Bode opens first Tokyo store
United Arrows: M&A amid “inevitable consolidation”
Zozo: new sales record and popup in Nagoya
AI beds at Nitori
Itochu “unaffected” by Eddie Bauer bankruptcy
Daimaru Matsuzakaya opens first rental store
Trial rolls out AI auto‑orders at 264 stores
Aeon ups wages by 5-8%
37 new large stores approved
Marubeni buys Etvos
Nojima aiming for ¥10 trillion
Convenience stores modernising bill payments
Jiyugaoka gets first new mall in decades
Hankyu to revamp Rakuhoku in Kyoto
And ST launches Buzzwit chain for Gen Z
Seven Eleven and Lawson miss expansion targets in China
Mirakl provides a base for Nitori and Satsudora e-commerce revamps
Watahan adds Pet‑Care Hubs in Nagano
Wolt to exit Japan
Brands and Companies in this Issue
ABG, 7
Adastria, 1
Aeon, 5, 10, 13–14, 16–17
Aeon Group, 14, 16
Aeon Retail, 1, 8
Ainz, 11
Amazon, 1, 3
Aoyama Shoji, 5
Apres Jour, 12
Asics Japan, 9
Askul, 3
Beenos, 3
Beisia, 4–5
Bic Camera, 10
Biore, 5
Bode, 5
Bookoff, 4
Brooks Brothers, 7
Buzzwit, 12
Cainz, 5
Can Do, 14, 16–17
Catalyst Brands, 7
Cath Kidston, 3
Celliant, 10
CIX, 8
Cosmos Yakuhin, 9
Daimaru Matsuzakaya, 8
Daiso, 14–17
Dearfoams, 9
Don Quijote, 8
DoorDash, 13
Eddie Bauer, 7
Edion, 11
Etvos, 9
FamilyMart, 4
Fast Retailing, 5
Fit Partner, 3
Genky Drugstore, 1
Geox, 3
Gola, 9
Greater China, 9
H2O, 11
Haera, 5
Hankyu, 1
Hapycom, 13
Haruyama, 5
Honeys Holdings, 1
Hulic, 11
Isetan, 1
Itochu Shoji, 7
Iwataya, 4
Joinus, 18
Jun, 19
Kao, 5
Kitte Nagoya, 6
Kodansha, 4
Kohnan Shoji, 15
Komeri, 1
Laforet, 12
Lawson, 5, 12
Life Gear, 3
Lopia, 8
Lucky Brand, 7
LVMH, 9
LY, 1, 3
Marubeni, 9
Matsuya, 1
Matsuzakaya Nagoya, 5
Medical Ikko, 13
Mediheal, 2, 10, 12
Meijiya, 11
Mirakl, 12–13
Mitsubishi Shoji, 3
Mitsukoshi, 1
Mizujin, 7
Muji, 1, 11, 15
Musinsa, 7
Nautica, 7
Nifty, 10
Nitori, 1, 7, 10, 12
Noe, 8
Nojima, 10
NTT, 8
Oasis Management, 13
Onitsuka Tiger, 9
Otonari Mart, 4
Pal Group, 14, 16
Parco, 1, 4–5
Parco Fukuoka, 4
Plaza, 3
Poplar, 11
Rakuhoku Hankyu, 11
Rakuten, 1, 3, 13
Sanyo Shokai, 5
Satsudora, 12
Save On, 5
Seicomart, 11
Seria, 14, 16–17
Seven Eleven, 10–12, 15–16
Shimamura, 1
Shogakukan, 4
Shueisha, 4
Snoopy, 10
Spark Group, 7
Suruga Bank, 10
Takashimaya, 1
Telma, 6
Tential, 10
Threeppy, 14–17
Toho Lamac, 3
Topvalu, 13
Tsuruha, 1, 13
Uber Eats, 13
Uniqlo, 1
United Arrows, 1, 5–6
Vaio, 10
Venex, 10
Watahan Home, 13
Watts, 14, 16–17
Welcia, 13
Wolt, 13
Workman, 1, 10, 12
XShelter, 12
Yahoo Shopping, 3
Zensen, 9
Zozo, 6