Expert on Japan Retail and Consumer Markets, JapanConsuming

Michael Causton

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. 

Event-Driven

<ul>
<li>EssilorLuxottica has always played a long game in Japan but since 2018 the eyewear giant has been investing in local production and a growing store network.</li>
<li>As reported by <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/profiles/mark-chadwick-b029e12b-877a-4796-9fc2-726aa7084ed5" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="accounts:10765" rel="noopener">Mark Chadwick,</a><a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/profiles/travis-lundy" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="accounts:25" rel="noopener">Travis Lundy</a> and myself, Luxottica has a stake in <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/paris-miki-holdings-inc" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:15251:1" rel="noopener">Paris Miki Holdings (7455 JP)</a> and the Japanese firm is a key strategic interest for EssilorLuxottica.</li>
<li>That Luxottica is increasing its investments in Japan retail through acquisition is evidenced by its takeover of Washin Optical, a 70-store eyewear chain, last month.</li>
</ul>


EssilorLuxottica has always played a long game in Japan but since 2018 the eyewear giant has been investing in local production and a growing store network.
As reported by Mark Chadwick,Travis Lundy and myself, Luxottica has a stake in Paris Miki Holdings (7455 JP) and the Japanese firm is a key strategic interest for EssilorLuxottica.
That Luxottica is increasing its investments in Japan retail through acquisition is evidenced by its takeover of Washin Optical, a 70-store eyewear chain, last month.


Luxottica Buys Washin Optical, Paris Miki Next?

Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul>
<li>There have been a lot of deals in the last 5 years, including M&amp;A between Japanese companies, distribution deals/licenses, foreign companies buying into Japan and Japanese buying foreign brands. </li>
<li>Consolidation is a key motivation but so are category expansion, rationalisation and buying in expertise. All these reasons and more suggest more deals to come in the next few years.</li>
<li>Here we provide a comprehensive list of deals between 2019-2025 as well as a map showing who owns who and, as important, who influences who without any paperwork at all.</li>
</ul>


There have been a lot of deals in the last 5 years, including M&amp;A between Japanese companies, distribution deals/licenses, foreign companies buying into Japan and Japanese buying foreign brands. 
Consolidation is a key motivation but so are category expansion, rationalisation and buying in expertise. All these reasons and more suggest more deals to come in the next few years.
Here we provide a comprehensive list of deals between 2019-2025 as well as a map showing who owns who and, as important, who influences who without any paperwork at all.


[Japan M&A] Who Owns Who in Fashion & Lifestyle Markets

Technical Analyst, Vermilion Research

Joe Jasper

Technical Analyst

Technical and Quantitative Research

Vermilion Research

Vermilion’s objective is to deliver timely, actionable, and unique technical research to professional investors through the application of our various technical indicators.

Our research strategists seek to highlight securities which we believe are at major inflection points, based on our various technical and quantitative indicators, and offer asymmetric risk/return profiles. Our unique research methodology, centered on relative strength, enables our strategists to deliver superior investment recommendations.

Our process begins by organizing the universe of actively traded stocks into discrete sectors, then into industry groups. We then apply our technical and quantitative tools to identify developing price trends. Once attractive trends are identified within a selected sector or group, we screen for individual stocks which we believe offer the best risk/reward profile. We provide a historical perspective that often reveals, through our long-term charts, how price patterns often repeat themselves over time.

Technical Analysis

<ul>
<li>Our outlook remains bullish on MSCI ACWI. Discussed in latest Int’l Compass (1/9/2025) how viewed the pullback as buying opportunity and were watching for $116-$117 support to hold on ACWI-US.</li>
<li>$116 support held perfectly and we expect upside to continue following 1+ month bull flag breakouts, followed by successful retests of support, on ACWI-US and the S&amp;P 500.</li>
<li>We also upgraded Germany to overweight last week, with RS on the DAX breaking out from a 2-year base. U.S. (SPX) and Germany are our only two country overweights.</li>
</ul>


Our outlook remains bullish on MSCI ACWI. Discussed in latest Int’l Compass (1/9/2025) how viewed the pullback as buying opportunity and were watching for $116-$117 support to hold on ACWI-US.
$116 support held perfectly and we expect upside to continue following 1+ month bull flag breakouts, followed by successful retests of support, on ACWI-US and the S&amp;P 500.
We also upgraded Germany to overweight last week, with RS on the DAX breaking out from a 2-year base. U.S. (SPX) and Germany are our only two country overweights.


Remain Risk-On With Market Dynamics Improving; 6+ Month Base Breakouts for MSCI ACWI Ex-US and EAFE

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial (MUFG) / Technical Analysis

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial (MUFG) (8306 JP)

<ul>
<li>Our bullish outlook on global equities (MSCI ACWI) remains intact. Actionable Themes today include Financials, Energy, and Consumer Discretionary (European Luxury Retailers)</li>
<li>We view this pullback as a buying opportunity and we are watching for $116-$117 support to hold on ACWI-US; this is an important resistance-turned-support level dating back to July 2024.</li>
<li>Europe and Japan are on the cusp of major breakouts above critical resistance levels of 5000-5120 on the EURO STOXX 50 and 2740-2820 on the TOPIX</li>
</ul>


Our bullish outlook on global equities (MSCI ACWI) remains intact. Actionable Themes today include Financials, Energy, and Consumer Discretionary (European Luxury Retailers)
We view this pullback as a buying opportunity and we are watching for $116-$117 support to hold on ACWI-US; this is an important resistance-turned-support level dating back to July 2024.
Europe and Japan are on the cusp of major breakouts above critical resistance levels of 5000-5120 on the EURO STOXX 50 and 2740-2820 on the TOPIX


Opportunity Within Europe and Japan; EURO STOXX 50 and TOPIX/Nikkei 225 Near Major Breakouts

<ul>
<li>Our outlook remains bullish on global equities (MSCI ACWI) with ACWI-US and the S&amp;P 500 holding above their respective bases at $117 and 5650-5670.</li>
<li>We've discussed since mid-October how we would use any pre-election pullback in the MSCI ACWI or the SPX (U.S. remains our only country overweight) as an opportunity to add exposure</li>
<li>And we continue to see a high probability of significant upside going into year-end and the early part of 2025.</li>
</ul>


Our outlook remains bullish on global equities (MSCI ACWI) with ACWI-US and the S&amp;P 500 holding above their respective bases at $117 and 5650-5670.
We've discussed since mid-October how we would use any pre-election pullback in the MSCI ACWI or the SPX (U.S. remains our only country overweight) as an opportunity to add exposure
And we continue to see a high probability of significant upside going into year-end and the early part of 2025.


Buy the Pullback in MSCI ACWI and S&P 500; Buys in Uranium, Transports, Services, Technology, More

France

EssilorLuxottica manufactures eyewear. The Company offers sun glasses, lenses, and other eye care products. EssilorLuxottica serves customers worldwide.

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EssilorLuxottica (EL FP)

Luxottica Buys Washin Optical, Paris Miki Next?

EssilorLuxottica is investing in local production and expanding its store network in Japan, buying Washin Optical last month for example. Is Paris...

Michael Causton

[Japan M&A] Who Owns Who in Fashion & Lifestyle Markets

Recent years have seen a surge in deals between Japanese and foreign companies in lifestyle/fashion, driven by consolidation and category...

Michael Causton

Remain Risk-On With Market Dynamics Improving; 6+ Month Base Breakouts for MSCI ACWI Ex-US and EAFE

Remain Risk-On With Market Dynamics Improving; 6+ Month Base Breakouts for MSCI $ACWI ex-US and $EAFE; U.S. Dollar $DXY and 10-Year Yields $TNX...

Vermilion Research

Opportunity Within Europe and Japan; EURO STOXX 50 and TOPIX/Nikkei 225 Near Major Breakouts

Opportunity Within Europe and Japan $HEDJ $DXJ; EURO $STOXX 50 and $TOPIX/Nikkei 225 Near Major Breakouts. $ACWI above $116. Buys in Financials,...

Vermilion Research

Buy the Pullback in MSCI ACWI and S&P 500; Buys in Uranium, Transports, Services, Technology, More

Buy the Pullback in MSCI $ACWI and $SPX; Still bullish on global equities with $ACWI and the SPX holding above their respective bases at $117 and...

Vermilion Research

Price Gauge

52-week Range

Market Cap (USDm)

P/E

Dividend (Yield)

Luxottica Buys Washin Optical, Paris Miki Next?

​EssilorLuxottica is investing in local production and expanding its store network in Japan, buying Washin Optical last month for example. Is Paris...

Michael Causton

[Japan M&A] Who Owns Who in Fashion & Lifestyle Markets

​Recent years have seen a surge in deals between Japanese and foreign companies in lifestyle/fashion, driven by consolidation and category...

Michael Causton

Remain Risk-On With Market Dynamics Improving; 6+ Month Base Breakouts for MSCI ACWI Ex-US and EAFE

Remain Risk-On With Market Dynamics Improving; 6+ Month Base Breakouts for MSCI $ACWI ex-US and $EAFE; U.S. Dollar $DXY and 10-Year Yields $TNX...

Vermilion Research

Opportunity Within Europe and Japan; EURO STOXX 50 and TOPIX/Nikkei 225 Near Major Breakouts

Opportunity Within Europe and Japan $HEDJ $DXJ; EURO $STOXX 50 and $TOPIX/Nikkei 225 Near Major Breakouts. $ACWI above $116. Buys in Financials,...

Vermilion Research

Buy the Pullback in MSCI ACWI and S&P 500; Buys in Uranium, Transports, Services, Technology, More

Buy the Pullback in MSCI $ACWI and $SPX; Still bullish on global equities with $ACWI and the SPX holding above their respective bases at $117 and...

Vermilion Research

EssilorLuxottica is investing in local production and expanding its store network in Japan, buying Washin Optical last month for example. Is Paris...

Recent years have seen a surge in deals between Japanese and foreign companies in lifestyle/fashion, driven by consolidation and category...