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

J Front Retailing Aims High with New Builds in Shibuya and Shinsaibashi

J-Front (3086) | Recent Datapoints Point to High-End Shoppers Loosening the Purse Strings

Japan Department Store Apparel Sales Down 35% in a Decade

Parco: 4 New Shopping Centres This Year, 28% Rise in Revenue in 5 Years to 2021

Japan's Top 100 Shopping Centres Outperforming: Who Owns What

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

The Japanese department store sector is in decline overall but that doesn't mean that all department stores are failing equally. Some stores and some chains are performing well and will continue to prosper in the years ahead thanks to support from wealthy Japanese, inbound tourists and their own efforts to extract more sales and margins through investment in key locations.One of the future winners is <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/8947" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:8947:1">J Front Retailing (3086 JP)</a> which, as well as one of the best plans for future proofing its department stores, has a big stake in <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/8431" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:8431:1">Parco (8251 JP)</a> which is about to see a big jump in sales on the back of new buildings coming online.A good example of how J-Front Retailing is re-working its assets is its plan to turn over a large chunk of its rebuilt Daimaru Shinsaibashi store to tenants after it reopens this coming Autumn. It will also install Parco to manage the neighbouring annex building, which will reopen in 2021.Together the two buildings aim to target a much broader set of customers than a standard department store. Where warranted, J-Front also plans new, standalone shopping buildings with local appeal. The first of these opened in Kyoto last month.

The Japanese department store sector is in decline overall but that doesn't mean that all department stores are failing equally. Some stores and some chains are performing well and will continue to prosper in the years ahead thanks to support from wealthy Japanese, inbound tourists and their own efforts to extract more sales and margins through investment in key locations.One of the future winners is J Front Retailing (3086 JP) which, as well as one of the best plans for future proofing its department stores, has a big stake in Parco (8251 JP) which is about to see a big jump in sales on the back of new buildings coming online.A good example of how J-Front Retailing is re-working its assets is its plan to turn over a large chunk of its rebuilt Daimaru Shinsaibashi store to tenants after it reopens this coming Autumn. It will also install Parco to manage the neighbouring annex building, which will reopen in 2021.Together the two buildings aim to target a much broader set of customers than a standard department store. Where warranted, J-Front also plans new, standalone shopping buildings with local appeal. The first of these opened in Kyoto last month.

J-Front Retailing: One of the Few Winners in Japanese Department Stores