JAPAN RETAIL NEWS - Inside consuming Japan: Japan retail, Japan market, Japan economy, Japan trends, Japanese people, Japan brands, Japan tech
 
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A kimono designer is attempting to save the endangered art by introducing it to today's gadget-loving younger generation. Nobuaki Tomita has created cases for Apple Inc.'s iPad tablet computers made of fabric for kimono sashes worn by "maiko" apprentice geisha. "I want to save the true tradition in one way or another while it is still alive," Tomita said.
 
 
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Sales of alcohol-free beverages that taste like beer and wine remain on an upward trajectory as an increasing number of people are abstaining from drinking for health reasons or forgoing purchases of alcoholic drinks amid weakening consumer sentiment since the March 11 disasters. Beverage makers have introduced a number of new products, while also seeking to expand into overseas markets.
 
 
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Major electronic IT manufacturers including Hitachi, Ltd., Fujitsu Ltd. and NEC Corp., plan to jointly develop next-generation semiconductors that will operate with one-tenth of the power consumed by present-day devices, it has been learned. Next-generation semiconductors will allow the transfer of greater amounts of data while at the same time enable a reduction in the size of IT-equipment and their power use.
 
 
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Japanese drinks giant Asahi has decided to put its thousands of vending machines to better use by turning them into Wi-Fi hotspots, a move which should prove popular in a country where such hotspots are few and far between. In a country where vending machines can be found not only on every street corner, but in between every street corner, across from every street corner and beside every street corner, the idea of turning them into Wi-Fi hotspots is a stroke of genius.
 
 
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Sony's long-awaited PlayStation Vita portable game machine hit stores in Japan on Saturday as thousands of game enthusiasts lined up early in the morning to be among the first to buy it. Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. is predicting brisk sales, even though the launch may have missed some holiday shoppers. A successful debut would help the company offset the rest of its struggling business. Sony projects a loss of more than $1 billion for the fiscal year through March 2012, which would be its fourth straight annual loss.
 
 
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Sanrio Co. has bought the rights to the Mr. Men animated characters from Chorion Ltd., looking to cut its reliance on Hello Kitty, which generates 80 percent of the company's overseas licensing revenue. Sanrio will acquire all shares of the Mr. Men animated film development and production unit from London-based Chorion, the company said in a statement that didn't include the terms of the deal.
 
 
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Honda's human-shaped robot can now run faster, balance itself on uneven surfaces, hop on one foot and pour a drink. Some of its technology may even be used to help out with clean-up operations at the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant. Honda's demonstration of the revamped "Asimo" on Tuesday at its Tokyo suburban research facility was not only to prove that the bubble-headed childlike machine was more limber and a bit smarter.
 
 
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Songs For Japan, the unique, star-studded album collection created to help raise money for victims of Japan's 2011 earthquake and tsunami disasters, continues to benefit the survivors through Japanese Red Cross Society. On the 8th of November senior executives from four major music companies – EMI, Sony Music, Universal Music and Warner Music Group – met with Japanese Red Cross Society Vice President, Yoshiharu Otsuka, in Tokyo to recognise the milestone of $10 million raised and donated from the global sales of Songs For Japan. The occasion was a reception hosted by Frances Moore, chief executive of worldwide recording industry organisation IFPI.
 
 
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Fast Retailing Co (9983.T), Asia's largest apparel retailer, is sticking to its Uniqlo sales target in Japan, despite a weak start to the fiscal year due to a lack of new products and warm autumn weather, its top executive said. Chairman and Chief Executive Tadashi Yanai told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday that the firm had shrunk the product lineup too deeply at its Uniqlo casual-clothing chain as it focused on core products such as its HeatTech thermal underwear and down jackets.
 
 
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New media is colliding with old media as part of a big marketing campaign. Japan’s biggest networks are pushing their social games to new formats, including television and magazines. Three of Japan’s biggest names in mobile and social gaming are to raise their profile whilst finding new business prospects, by adapting their games to television, magazines and comics.