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

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. 

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

Japan Consumer discretionary / Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul class="">
<li>Leading shopping centres in Japan recovered well in FY2017 after a tough 2016, with most forms of tenant posting better sales.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>
</li>
<li>While accessories, sports and eateries did as well as expected, apparel also had a much better year compared to the tough trading in 2016.</li>
<li>Station/fashion buildings that moved to a more premium position outperformed the sector, reflecting the continued growth in incomes and assets among affluent Japanese.</li>
<li>The improvement overall reflects the better sentiment among consumers, but equally, the continued shift of spending from other forms of retail (like GMS stores) to the better shopping centres.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>
</li>
<li>So far, apart from a 2.8% drop in May, sales have been positive in FY2018 too, with apparel again doing much better than in recent years, suggesting an upturn for some fashion retailers.</li>
<li>As well as sales growth, major SC developers have also become much more adept at extracting higher profits from their facilities, and we expect this trend to continue.</li>
</ul>


Leading shopping centres in Japan recovered well in FY2017 after a tough 2016, with most forms of tenant posting better sales. 

While accessories, sports and eateries did as well as expected, apparel also had a much better year compared to the tough trading in 2016.
Station/fashion buildings that moved to a more premium position outperformed the sector, reflecting the continued growth in incomes and assets among affluent Japanese.
The improvement overall reflects the better sentiment among consumers, but equally, the continued shift of spending from other forms of retail (like GMS stores) to the better shopping centres. 

So far, apart from a 2.8% drop in May, sales have been positive in FY2018 too, with apparel again doing much better than in recent years, suggesting an upturn for some fashion retailers.
As well as sales growth, major SC developers have also become much more adept at extracting higher profits from their facilities, and we expect this trend to continue.


Japan Shopping Centre Sales Grow Again in 2017-18