Updated as of November 2005 Cheap Imported Apparel in Vogue. Total sales of all Japanese textile manufacturers, including apparel and chemical fiber manufacturers, were 5,343 billion yen or $50.4 billion in 2003, down 32.1 percent from 7,870 billion yen in 1999. The industry in 2003 was composed of 26,836 establishments, compared to 38,204 establishments in 1999, a decline of 29.7 percent. |
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Total industry statistics are only available for selected years as the data are obtained from an all-inclusive census taken only in those years. More extensive data providing better trend indications are available for businesses employing 4 or more people. Based on this, total shipments in 2003 amounted to 2,394 billion yen, down 3.4 percent from 2,478 billion yen the previous year, and down 26 percent from 3,236 billion yen in 1999. Apparel manufacturers producing clothes and related products had 2,443 billion yen worth of shipments in 2003, down 7.8 percent from the previous year. Chemical fiber manufacturers recorded 506 billion yen worth of shipments, down 11.8 percent from the previous year.
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The trend in the number of employees among textile manufacturers is more severe than the number of establishments. The number of establishments dropped by 11,368 or 29.8 percent from 1999, while the number of employees dropped from 659,653 to 444,223, down 32.7 percent from 5 years earlier. |
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| This pattern of transition to fewer establishments and fewer employees has been the same across the board in Japan over the past several decades as many industries that are labor intensive, with low invested capital and low technology content, are moved off-shore to developing countries in order to compete in the international market. This situation is also reflected in the pattern of imports and exports of textile and apparel products to and from Japan. The country's total exports of textile, apparel, and chemical-fiber products in 1990 was 960 billion yen, versus 842 million yen in 2003, down 12.3 percent. Japan's imports in the same category in 1990 were 1,854 billion yen, versus $2,819 billion in 2003, a 52 percent increase. In particular, imports of clothing and clothing accessories have grown remarkably since 1985. | |
| China offers the most conspicuous case in point with regards to exports to Japan. Chinese exports of clothing and clothing accessories to Japan rose from 994 billion yen in 1995 to 1,791 billion yen in 2003, an increase of 80 percent. This trend was further accelerated by several Japanese suppliers with a mass-merchandising business mode--First Retailing Co., Ltd., who manufacture and sell through their own merchandising chain, UNIQLO stores. Being the leading pacesetter--they adopted apparel design and quality control from Japan and use very low-cost labor in China. First Retailing enjoyed sensational success for some time before its lead was eroded by competitors following suit. Reflecting this influx of low-cost items, average Japanese household spending for apparel and footwear has gone down year by year from an average of 18,013 yen per household per month in 1998 to 13,572 yen in 2004, a decline of 24.6 percent.
But, as deflationary pressures have been easing, the Japanese are returning to their expensive taste in fashionable luxury items, which are experiencing a comebak. |
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