Since 1971, the Nikkei Marketing Journal has been celebrated for issuing an annual banzuke (sumo-style ranking list) of hit products enjoying strong popularity in the domestic marketplace. Indeed, the list—initially issued every December—proved so popular that some years ago, the publication began running a second ranking at midyear to identify each year’s early performers. This year’s banzuke appeared on page one of the 8 June issue.
A new word, “yasunemics”—used to describe the current situation in the Japanese marketplace—tops the midyear list. A play on the name for the current Japanese prime minister’s economic policies, or Abenomics, the word is written in Japanese using the kanji character for the “A” of “Abe”—in this case pronounced yasu (cheap)—and combined with ne (price).
The word refers to the ongoing price deflation that has plagued Japan for the past two decades, and which is now influencing greater numbers of consumers to seek bargains when they shop.
Cheap items might include inexpensive lunch offerings from Burger King or Yoshinoya for office workers, and stylish, but affordable, watches in the ¥1,000–5,000 range produced by Casio, whose popularity has been boosted by social media exchanges.
Other items in the midyear list include negative interest rates; the new long-distance bus terminal in Shinjuku; Ise-shima and Hiroshima, sites of the G7 conference and subsequent visit by US President Barack Obama; minpaku (tourist stays in private homes); the Hokkaido Shinkansen; artificial intelligence; and the new Kyoto Railway Museum.
The publication also produced a schedule of key events that are likely to generate consumer interest over the coming months. They include the following:
- Opening of Hoshinoya Tokyo, a high-rise building operated by Hoshino Resorts as a ryokan (Japanese inn), on 20 July. Located in Otemachi, Chiyoda Ward, it is to feature a hot-spring spa.
- Opening of Prince Gallery, a 250-room luxury hotel built on the site of the former Prince Hotel near Nagatacho station, on 27 July.
- Hosting of the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games on 5 August—18 September.
- Family Mart Co., Ltd’s completion of a merger with UNY Group Holdings Co., Ltd., on 1 September, creating Japan’s second-largest convenience store group.
- Opening of Tsukiji Uogashi, a new retail market, in Tsukiji, Chuo Ward, on 15 October. The move is ahead of the transfer of the district’s 80-year-old central fish market to new facilities in Toyosu, Koto Ward, on 7 November, which is attracting lots of media attention.
- Opening, in autumn, of two new commercial areas: Kyobashi Edogrand, a commercial complex in Kyobashi 2-chome, and a new development combining shops and offices connected to Nakameguro Station in Meguro Ward.