The word is out, will China be the next Japan? Don’t get me wrong, Japan is there to stay and I love being there. Nothing beats an evening in an Izakaya drinking with the locals or an afternoon in an open air Onsen, looking at the bamboos growing.
With it’s cleanliness, great design and zero defects, maybe Japan will turn into a Asian Switzerland. What to think of a place where you can change your facial features in a photo booth.
Or a place where 12 is a good number to start a girls band.
We are in Japan for a reason. We always are looking at trends. We are the eyes and the ears of our clients. But often we get sensory overloads.
The Japanese are great collectors. This new store in Shibuya has one in every color you can imagine, just in case.
And Japan as always great graphics, from elephants…
To bananas.
Let’s not forget Monsters, Japanese love them!
Of course we see these great looking single gear bicycles all over. But they are more jewelry than transport. Nothing beats my 24 gears!
And then you see candy girls everywhere, but I’m afraid they are like French pastries in Japan, beautiful and delicate but not much flavor!
In Japan one still can take a bullet train to tradition.
So we are back to my initial question, will China become like Japan? Is some ways, China market is getting bigger and richer, growing in ways Japan cannot match, but Japan will remain unique. We tell our clients to come and invest time and money in China, but never forget Japan!
I just pray this little Izakaya in Kyoto remains there for a while, unspoiled from the hordes of tourists…
