Expert on Japan Retail and Consumer Markets, JapanConsuming

Michael Causton

Michael is co-founder and partner at JapanConsuming.

JapanConsuming is a specialist research firm producing intelligence on Japanese retail and consumer markets. Founded in 2000, JapanConsuming has become the leading provider of insights on Japanese retailers and consumer trends to retailers, brands, government agencies and investors. As well as a highly regarded monthly report on the market, JapanConsuming produces in-depth reports and seminars on retail sectors and consumer trends, as well as telephone consulting/meetings with investors. 

All of JapanConsuming's team are bilingual and bi-cultural, and the company's research sources are:

Direct meetings with retailers, wholesalers, distributors, trade body staff, govt., marketing firms, academics etc.
Govt. data
Trade association data
Trade Press across all consumer sectors
Unique Network of buyers/managers/marketing staff at retail, as well as wholesalers and trading firms.
Editors/Journalists at publishing houses and PR/Ad firms.


JapanConsuming was founded by Michael Causton and Roy Larke. 

Michael Causton set up and ran a consumer distribution business in Tokyo for 10 years and developed this into a business responsible for annual imports to Japan of several billion Yen, at the same time building up an inside knowledge of how Japanese distribution works and developing a network of contacts across the industry. Seeing the lack of quality market intelligence on Japanese markets, he co-founded JapanConsuming in 2000. He divides his time between Japan and Europe/US consulting for companies, governments and investors, including providing talks, seminars, and webinars as well as writing reports and books.

Expert on Japan Retail and Consumer Markets

Aoyama Trading: 400 Redundancies but Aims for Relevance Through Digital and Co-Working

The Suit Comes Off: Japan Suits Retail Market Collapses

Japanese Retailing: The Big Disruption – and Opportunity – in the Next 5 Years

Drug-Fuelled Marriages and Macho Shachos* in Japan

Japan Consumption Trends: Lots of Savings for Good Brands and Retailers to Tap Into

Real Insight on Japanese Consumer Markets

JapanConsuming

JapanConsuming is a specialist research firm producing intelligence on Japanese retail and consumer markets. Founded in 2000, JapanConsuming has become the leading provider of insights on Japanese retailers and consumer trends to retailers, brands, government agencies and investors. As well as a highly regarded monthly report on the market, JapanConsuming produces in-depth reports on retail sectors, seminars on key trends and telephone consulting to investors on trends and retailers.

JapanConsuming was founded by Michael Causton and Roy Larke. 

Equity Bottom-Up

<a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/american-eagle-outfitters" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:10217:1" rel="noopener">American Eagle Outfitters (AEO US)</a> looked to have a promising future when it first decided to enter the Japanese market but when it arrived in 2010 its partner was the men’s suits retailer, <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/aoyama-trading-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:4544:1" rel="noopener">Aoyama Trading (8219 JP)</a>.
After 9 years of continuous losses, Aoyama wants to quit and hand over to the US firm. For American Eagle Outfitters, there is an opportunity even if the American casual trend has waned somewhat.
For Aoyama, diversification is key if it is to find growth in a contracting businesswear market and closing down its casual fashion business won’t help. The leading businesswear retailer looks set for several years of contraction unless it can find a new hit store concept. Its struggles emphasise the negative outlook for the businesswear market in general, including other major firms such as <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/aoki-holdings-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:2993:1" rel="noopener">Aoki Holdings (8214 JP).</a>

American Eagle Outfitters (AEO US) looked to have a promising future when it first decided to enter the Japanese market but when it arrived in 2010 its partner was the men’s suits retailer, Aoyama Trading (8219 JP).
After 9 years of continuous losses, Aoyama wants to quit and hand over to the US firm. For American Eagle Outfitters, there is an opportunity even if the American casual trend has waned somewhat.
For Aoyama, diversification is key if it is to find growth in a contracting businesswear market and closing down its casual fashion business won’t help. The leading businesswear retailer looks set for several years of contraction unless it can find a new hit store concept. Its struggles emphasise the negative outlook for the businesswear market in general, including other major firms such as Aoki Holdings (8214 JP).

American Eagle Outfitters Enters Buyout Talks with Aoyama Shoji