THE INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES OF JAPANESE RETAILERS

Despite the upsurge of academic and commercial interest in the changes taking place in the retail sector within Japan, little has been published on the international activities of Japanese retailers. This paper illustrates the range and scale of activities which have been undertaken by such companies. While Europe and America were favourite destinations up until the mid-1980s, most Japanese retailers have now refocused their expansion plans on Asia as the level of consumers' disposable income has risen and trade barriers have been lowered. At the same rime, the early entrants into international markets, the development stores, have been joined by companies operating supermarkets, convenience stores, clothing stores, electrical outlets and so on. The paper considers the nature of these changes and the factors which have driven them.