Hard Sell: Japan’s Retail Sector May Need to Reinvent Itself In the Wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Shifting buying habits at the country’s famous convenience stores and department stores hint at possible permanent changes in consumer behavior, favoring cooking at home, telecommuting, and online-shopping. This would be a profound change in Japan, where many people buy groceries fresh every day, department stores sell the pleasure of shopping as much as they sell high-end products, and public transportation supports shopping centers.
Just for Kicks: Japan’s Sneaker Obsession Rebounds
Interest in Japan’s limited edition shoes has crossed from Japanese collectors into the global mainstream, but a lot has changed about the original sneaker culture of the 1990s.
Throwaway Society: Rejecting a Life Consumed by Plastic
Japan is the second-biggest producer of plastic waste per capita, after the US. One journalist tries to spend a week without using single-use plastic and discovers how dependent Japan’s food system has become on disposable plastic.
Lost: Struggling to Cope with Millions of Unclaimed Items in Tokyo
When things get lost in the world’s largest city, they often end up at the Metropolitan Police Department’s lost and found center. So which one of these 3,000 umbrellas is yours?