Published in The Japan Times (Japan’s English daily newspaper) August 18, 2008.
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Maker aim to bring kimono back as daily wear
By Makiko Yamazaki(Jiji Press)
Faced with a shrinking market, the kimono industry is standing up to change the perception of kimono as an expensive and ceremonial form of dress and bring the traditional clothing back into daily Japanese life.
Okano Co., a maker of Hakata-ori traditional woven textile in Fukuoka for 111 years, opened a directly-managed retail kimono store in Tokyo's Roppongi district this April, a rare move in an industry where it is common to have at least several wholesalers between the manufacturer and consumer in a lengthy distribution process.
By cutting distribution costs and using cotton instead of silk for some items, the store, called "awai," can offer a kimono and obi for as little as 55,000 yen, or roughly one-10th of the price of an average silk kimono set.
"The industry has long focused too much on selling expensive ceremonial kimono to those who can afford them," said Masahiro Kinoshita, manager at awai.
"Such a business model worked well in kimono's golden era in the 1960s and 1970s. But kimono became a very remote thing as a result."
Kinoshita said the awai store hopes to provide casual kimono that are a little more formal than yukata, an easy-to-wear summer kimono, so that people feel at ease wearing them for an occasion such as having dinner at a restaurant.
The retail kimono market, once worth about 2 trillion yen, has been on a steady decline for nearly 30 years. The Yano Research Institute estimates sales at 394.5 billion yen in 2008, down 13.5 pct from the predicted figure for 2007.
The recent market shrinkage mostly reflects a surge in the number of bankruptcies in the industry, including some major chains infamous for sales practices such as forcing elderly people to take out loans for expensive kimono.
The kimono industry has benefited little from the recent popularity of yukata among young people, who wear them for summer events such as fireworks.
At major department store operator Isetan Co., sales of yukata increased about 5 pct annually in the five years through 2007, while those of other kimono declined by 5 pct over the five-year period.
"The yukata boom has hardly spread to other kimono, with the reasons being kimono's high prices, people not knowing how to wear them, the tedious maintenance methods and a lack of fashionable patterns," Kenichiro Asako, a buyer at Isetan's kimono department, said in a written interview.
According to an online survey last year of 310 adults across Japan by Nihonwasou Holdings Inc. <2499>, an operator of kimono-wearing schools, 85.6 pct of respondents said they never wore kimono or wear them less than once a year on average.
Asked why they hardly wore kimono, 43.6 pct said there were no opportunities, while 26.3 pct said they didn't own one, and 21.1 pct said they couldn't put one on by themselves.
Still, the same survey found that 46.4 pct said they wanted to wear kimono at New Year, suggesting a strong latent interest in the traditional robe.
According to Yamato Co., a major kimono retailer with annual sales of 26.7 billion yen, the number of young women who wear kimono as part of their daily fashion is steadily expanding. "These women typically choose casual kimono, often made of synthetic fiber, over conventional formal ones," a Yamato official said.
Reflecting the trend, the number of Yamato customers rose 11 pct in fiscal 2007 on a same-store basis, despite an 11 pct drop in overall sales. "The rapid increase in customers suggests that the potential remains for sales growth," the official said.
Meanwhile, to tap the potential demand, Nihonwasou, the kimono-wearing school chain, has addressed the often off-putting atmosphere of kimono shops. The group launched a "Kimono Super" retail chain last November, focusing on the creation of kimono stores similar to supermarkets so that customers feel easy about stopping by with no pushy salespersons.
"Kimono stores often carry the stigma that customers can never leave until they buy something," said Tomomi Yasuda, spokesman for Nihonwasou. "We are trying to change that and lower consumer reluctance to go into kimono shops."
Tokyo Yamaki Co., originally a kimono wholesaler and established in 1924, has approached the issue differently, switching to secondhand and ready-made kimono only at its 110 "Tansu-ya" retail outlets.
"Like beginner drivers often turn to used cars, the kimono market needs the secondhand sector to help beginners enter the world of kimono," said Mamoru Yamamoto, general manager of the firm, adding that the secondhand kimono market is said to have potential of about 20 billion yen.
The industry also hopes that efforts to revitalize the kimono market will help increase the chance of survival for Japanese traditional crafts.
"Many of our Hakata-ori experts are over 60 years old," said Kinoshita of Okano, the Hakata-ori maker. "To promote the handover of the traditional craft to younger generations, we must first make sure that a solid market will exist in 10 or 20 years. It'll be too late if we don't take action now."
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Maker aim to bring kimono back as daily wear
By Makiko Yamazaki(Jiji Press)
Faced with a shrinking market, the kimono industry is standing up to change the perception of kimono as an expensive and ceremonial form of dress and bring the traditional clothing back into daily Japanese life.
Okano Co., a maker of Hakata-ori traditional woven textile in Fukuoka for 111 years, opened a directly-managed retail kimono store in Tokyo's Roppongi district this April, a rare move in an industry where it is common to have at least several wholesalers between the manufacturer and consumer in a lengthy distribution process.
By cutting distribution costs and using cotton instead of silk for some items, the store, called "awai," can offer a kimono and obi for as little as 55,000 yen, or roughly one-10th of the price of an average silk kimono set.
"The industry has long focused too much on selling expensive ceremonial kimono to those who can afford them," said Masahiro Kinoshita, manager at awai.
"Such a business model worked well in kimono's golden era in the 1960s and 1970s. But kimono became a very remote thing as a result."
Kinoshita said the awai store hopes to provide casual kimono that are a little more formal than yukata, an easy-to-wear summer kimono, so that people feel at ease wearing them for an occasion such as having dinner at a restaurant.
The retail kimono market, once worth about 2 trillion yen, has been on a steady decline for nearly 30 years. The Yano Research Institute estimates sales at 394.5 billion yen in 2008, down 13.5 pct from the predicted figure for 2007.
The recent market shrinkage mostly reflects a surge in the number of bankruptcies in the industry, including some major chains infamous for sales practices such as forcing elderly people to take out loans for expensive kimono.
The kimono industry has benefited little from the recent popularity of yukata among young people, who wear them for summer events such as fireworks.
At major department store operator Isetan Co., sales of yukata increased about 5 pct annually in the five years through 2007, while those of other kimono declined by 5 pct over the five-year period.
"The yukata boom has hardly spread to other kimono, with the reasons being kimono's high prices, people not knowing how to wear them, the tedious maintenance methods and a lack of fashionable patterns," Kenichiro Asako, a buyer at Isetan's kimono department, said in a written interview.
According to an online survey last year of 310 adults across Japan by Nihonwasou Holdings Inc. <2499>, an operator of kimono-wearing schools, 85.6 pct of respondents said they never wore kimono or wear them less than once a year on average.
Asked why they hardly wore kimono, 43.6 pct said there were no opportunities, while 26.3 pct said they didn't own one, and 21.1 pct said they couldn't put one on by themselves.
Still, the same survey found that 46.4 pct said they wanted to wear kimono at New Year, suggesting a strong latent interest in the traditional robe.
According to Yamato Co., a major kimono retailer with annual sales of 26.7 billion yen, the number of young women who wear kimono as part of their daily fashion is steadily expanding. "These women typically choose casual kimono, often made of synthetic fiber, over conventional formal ones," a Yamato official said.
Reflecting the trend, the number of Yamato customers rose 11 pct in fiscal 2007 on a same-store basis, despite an 11 pct drop in overall sales. "The rapid increase in customers suggests that the potential remains for sales growth," the official said.
Meanwhile, to tap the potential demand, Nihonwasou, the kimono-wearing school chain, has addressed the often off-putting atmosphere of kimono shops. The group launched a "Kimono Super" retail chain last November, focusing on the creation of kimono stores similar to supermarkets so that customers feel easy about stopping by with no pushy salespersons.
"Kimono stores often carry the stigma that customers can never leave until they buy something," said Tomomi Yasuda, spokesman for Nihonwasou. "We are trying to change that and lower consumer reluctance to go into kimono shops."
Tokyo Yamaki Co., originally a kimono wholesaler and established in 1924, has approached the issue differently, switching to secondhand and ready-made kimono only at its 110 "Tansu-ya" retail outlets.
"Like beginner drivers often turn to used cars, the kimono market needs the secondhand sector to help beginners enter the world of kimono," said Mamoru Yamamoto, general manager of the firm, adding that the secondhand kimono market is said to have potential of about 20 billion yen.
The industry also hopes that efforts to revitalize the kimono market will help increase the chance of survival for Japanese traditional crafts.
"Many of our Hakata-ori experts are over 60 years old," said Kinoshita of Okano, the Hakata-ori maker. "To promote the handover of the traditional craft to younger generations, we must first make sure that a solid market will exist in 10 or 20 years. It'll be too late if we don't take action now."
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