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

Fast Retailing: What Is a Good Entry Point Amidst COVID-19 Risks?

What Do You Buy if the Softbank Mega-Buyback Drives a Nikkei Squeeze?

Taking Stock of the Almost Excessive Alpha Generation From TOPIX-Nikkei Skew Trades

Fast Retailing: A Weak 1QFY20 in Uniqlo International and Its Impact on Valuation

Fast Retailing 1QFY20 Results to Form an Attractive Entry Point

Fast Retailing: A Deep Dive into Uniqlo’s Domestic Market Focusing Mainly on the Numbers

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

<p>After a drop in operating profits last year, GU – sister chain to Uniqlo – has recovered momentum with more stores, investment in e-commerce and new brands. The <a href="https://www.smartkarma.com/entities/fast-retailing-co-ltd" target="_blank" data-smartkarma-citation="entities:751:1" rel="noopener">Fast Retailing (9983 JP)</a>  subsidiary has also begun to shave away costs in its supply chains to pare down prices further and improve efficiency and sustainability. Based on recent performance and its current plans, the casual apparel chain should become a new source of growth for Fast Retailing.</p>

After a drop in operating profits last year, GU – sister chain to Uniqlo – has recovered momentum with more stores, investment in e-commerce and new brands. The Fast Retailing (9983 JP)  subsidiary has also begun to shave away costs in its supply chains to pare down prices further and improve efficiency and sustainability. Based on recent performance and its current plans, the casual apparel chain should become a new source of growth for Fast Retailing.

GUの新たな事業拡大への道筋：国内外のファーストリテイリングの活性化へ