During the 1980s, Japan saw trends like Hello Kitty-type character products and brand-name fashion. The 1990s gave birth to Tamagotchi, Bandaiās portable game character, as well as sticker picture machines and even Windows 95 fever. Now?
Now, Japan has eco cars and āfast fashionā, which are clothes from cheap chain stores. Not very exciting! As Japanās Nikkei points out, the Japanese market is maturing, meaning that there arenāt the youthful trends of the past.
Pundits think the slowing of trends is related to three points: the decline of the youth population, the decline of their buying power and the maturing of the countryās youth.
Itās 2010. The start of a new decade, and itās a bit early to count out the Japanese youth. The last decade saw loads of youth-driven trends that were connected to fashion, technology and pop culture. The next ten years in Japan are bound to do the same.
According to the Nikkeiās piece, there are no new āboomsā (or trends) because Japanese youth donāt spend money. With the global economy still pulling itself out of the doldrums, itās only natural that youth spending is down. Moneyās tight ā and not just with youngsters, but all across the board.
Why it was just a few years ago that the Nintendo DS was still so popular that it was regularly selling out, customers were still lining up when new shipments arrived and Nintendo DS consoles intended for sale in America were re-imported into Japan. While it didnāt only appeal to Japanās youth, gamers from grade school to their early twenties did make up a large chunk of the buying populace.
But that was 2007. Before tough times hit and before everyone lost their job and had to eat rocks.
The fever-pitch the Nintendo DS reached was on par with what Bandai saw with Tamagotchi. The number of Japanese young people is getting smaller, but it isnāt disappearing. And the most interesting trends arenāt store-bought. Take these two dudes, for example.
ę¶ććč„č åøå “ļ¼ę„ēµććøćć¹ćŖć³ć©ć¤ć³ [Nikkei via ēććć„ć¼ć¹]ć[Pic]
