Internationalization of Japanese Retailers

Abstract

East Asia is experiencing an influx of retail companies from the West. Locally, politicians, academics and journalists are not too happy about this, although the majority of consumers do not seem to mind. Japan too has seen its fair share of overseas retailers entering the market, and it is one of the places where opposition to Western firms is strongest. But the question is, as they too expand into East Asia, how do Japanese retailers fit into this situation? Yes, they represent East Asia and are subject to the same competition with so-called global retailers like Wal-Mart, Tesco, and Toys ‘R’ Us in their own market, but they also originate from the second richest market in the world. Japan would be the first to insist it is very much a first world country, and, at least privately, most Japanese would admit they enjoy an economy far more advanced than that of the rest of Asia. When it comes to international expansion around the Asian region, should Japanese retailers be seen as Asian, or just another example of large, ambitious retailers powering their way into underdeveloped markets? The truth is, there is very little difference between companies from Europe, North America and Japan when it comes to taking over markets in the rest of the East Asian region.