Articles
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Jan 24 2022
How is the Japanese Luxury Fashion Market Being Impacted by Digital Marketing Trends
Being the third largest market in the world for luxury goods, Japan offers plenty of opportunities for luxury brands to capture market share. Whether you're new to the market and seeking to build awareness, or have already established a reputation with Japanese consumers and want to improve conversion, let's take a look at how to tailor your digital strategy in Japan as a luxury brand. Building a Japanese Ecommerce Strategy? Let Us Help! Overview of the Japanese Luxury Fashion Market Though often overshadowed by the sheer size of the U.S. and the rapid growth of the Chinese market, according to Statista the Japanese luxury goods market is the third largest in the world, generating USD$33B total revenue in 2021. USD$10B from the luxury fashion segment alone. With growth expected to slow after 2023, Japan’s market is projected to reach USD$40B by 2024, there are still plenty of opportunities for both market entry and growt
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Dec 30 2021
Japanese Investments in Green Technology - An Overview
Most developed nations have pledged vast sums in the coming years to reduce the world’s reliance on fossil fuels and curb the damage caused by climate change. While some fear that this will hamper economic growth, others are embracing new business models and processes that instead rely on greener technologies. As a nation trying hard to redefine itself as an environmental leader in Asia, we explore some of Japan's biggest green innovations and initiatives. Table of Contents Green highlights Scaling up hydrogen Carbon capture Electric vehicles and hybrids Providing green technology solutions beyond Japan Contact Us! Green Highlights Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has pledged funds to assist Asia reach its zero carbon emission goals, including up to $60 billion in climate finance in 2021 as well as $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund, supporting the transition to decarbonisation in developing coun
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Dec 30 2021
What Does Sustainability Mean to Japanese Consumers?
Many people around the world are now embracing sustainability in a way they never have before. In 2021, around 32% of global consumers were engaged in adopting a more sustainable lifestyle and studies show that awareness of climate and environmental issues increased hugely — a trend that is only likely to continue. However, while there’s a growing feeling that all nations are finally starting to pull in the same direction, it’s still true that national environmental policies diverge significantly from country to country. While Japan’s reputation today as a sustainable and environmentally friendly nation is growing, its recent green policies, technological innovations and pledges to reduce its carbon output contrast a long history of fossil fuel reliance and abuse of the region’s forests to secure the resources needed for the nation’s industrial growth. Combined with the fact that plastic usage and meat and fish consumption is still incredibly high here, it’s natu
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Dec 03 2021
The Importance of Data Visualization in Japan for Engagement and SEO
Data visualization can take many simple forms, such as graphs, charts or tables — translating basic information into a visual context that is easier to process and understand. When handling large data sets that would otherwise be incomprehensible to the average reader, visualizations can also appear more complex or abstract, using a combination of shapes, colours and textures to convey meaning. Today, infographics are one of the most popular forms of data visualization, blending traditional data visualization techniques (used in Japan for centuries) with modern storytelling tactics to support the content marketing and SEO activities carried out by many brands. In this post, we explore why effective data visualization is so important in the Japanese market and how you can approach data in the right way to cater to local preferences and support your digital marketing strategies. Table of Contents The role data visualization plays in Japan The link between data visuali
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Dec 03 2021
Japan - Environmental Sustainability and Efforts to Go Green
Japan’s attitude towards environmental sustainability has changed dramatically since the late 1980s, both at a governmental and corporate level. While the country has been criticised in the past for its extraordinarily high use of plastics and its dependence on fossil fuels, we’ve also seen Japan try to carve out a new global image for itself by investing in greener technologies, reducing its carbon consumption and tackling global environmental issues through cooperation with other nations in Asia and beyond. We explore where Japan now stands within the context of rising concerns over climate change, loss of biodiversity, rising sea levels, deforestation and other key environmental issues Table of Contents Criticisms of Japan's approach to environmental sustainability A turning point for Japanese environmental policies A new era Leading the region in environmental initiatives So how environmentally sustainable is Japan? The future of Japanese environmenta
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Dec 03 2021
CSR in Japan - How Japanese Companies Approach Corporate Social Responsibility
Consumers might not expect you to fix everything, but brands are increasingly scrutinised to make a positive difference on issues under their control. Whilst concerns about data security and employee welfare are becoming more talked about in the public sphere, the largest focus is now, no doubt, on the environment and climate change. Many companies have been prompted, nudged and forced to make a stand on such issues. If you’re entering the Japanese market as a business and are curious about the way companies approach CSR here compared to other markets, you’ve come to the right place. However, as this is such an interesting topic, we encourage you to read on if you’ve landed on this article for other reasons or are simply curious about how Japan has historically (and more recently) approached corporate social responsibility. What Does CSR Mean in Japan? There has long been a growing concern among global citizens that something should be done by businesses to address th
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Aug 31 2021
The Impact of Covid-19 On Japanese Social Media (Short and Long Term)
During a time of increased social distancing and greater concern for public health and safety, it’s no surprise that many people turned to social media as the Covid-19 pandemic was first felt in Japan. For some, forced to isolate or spend less time with friends, it was a lifeline that allowed them to connect with others during a stressful and trying period. And for others, it was a way to distract themselves from everything going on in the world. Yet, perhaps the major driver here was the need to access information quickly on how the virus was spreading and measures taken by the Japanese government to prevent it. In this post, we explore some of the effects this unique moment has had on social media usage in Japan and some important takeaways for brands building or adapting their organic and paid social strategies today. Table of Contents The changing role of Japanese social media Fundamentals of Japanese social media How did Covid-19 change the Japanese social m
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Aug 31 2021
How to Find the Right Translation Services in Tokyo
There are hundreds of different reasons you might want to translate content into Japanese. And there are also plenty of ways you can go about doing this. The simplest but least effective option is putting your content into Google Translate. As well as stumbling when it comes to words that just don’t have an obvious counterpart in another language, this method fails to incorporate important contextual factors (which is extremely important in Japan’s high context culture). Humans, in some capacity, are the best route to translating your text so that it makes sense in Japanese and also has the intended impact. However, it can be incredibly hard to find the right individual or agency to work with if you’re completely new to the country. For inbound businesses starting their Japanese journey in the capital, we offer some advice on how you can find the right Japanese translation service in Tokyo. Table of Contents Why is good translation so crucial in Japan? Find a co
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Aug 31 2021
Top Ecommerce Websites in Japan - Popular B2C & C2C Marketplaces
While B2C ecommerce platforms like Rakuten, Amazon and Yahoo! Shopping are incredibly popular in Japan, there’s a lot more to the country’s online shopping scene than just these players. In addition to sales made through the websites of brands and electronic stores like Bic Camera, there’s a growing love for both auction sites and C2C marketplaces like Mercari where customers can sell their secondhand (and sometimes completely unused) items to one another. So, to build on content we’ve previously published focusing on the giants of ecommerce in Japan, we’ll explore the role these other types of ecommerce websites now play in Japan and whether brands should be making use of them in their ecommerce strategies. Table of Contents Leading types of ecommerce websites in Japan Top B2C ecommerce websites in Japan—a quick reminder Japan's customer-to-customer (C2C) ecommerce landscape Building a Japanese ecommerce strategy? Building a Japane
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Jul 31 2021
10 Mistakes to Avoid When Using SEO Marketing in Japan
The good news for foreign brands and marketers trying to break into Japan is that you don’t need to learn how to use an entirely new search engine. Google and Yahoo! Japan are the two most popular platforms and together they serve around 95% of the population. Also, because Yahoo uses the same algorithm as Google for reviewing and indexing pages in search results, you can keep using industry best practices from your home market when it comes to SEO marketing in Japan. Having said this, we find that many companies use this as an excuse to simply use exactly the same SEO strategy as they do back home without making necessary adjustments for the local market. Lack of localization is one of the biggest errors you can make when trying to rank on Google and drive good volumes of relevant traffic to your site, but there are other things to look out for as well. These are our top 10 mistakes to avoid when using SEO marketing in Japan! Table of Contents Using Google Translate a
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