JAPAN RETAIL NEWS - Inside consuming Japan: Japan retail, Japan market, Japan economy, Japan trends, Japanese people, Japan brands, Japan tech
 
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Kashiwa Sato is the face behind many of Japan’s most famous designs — from the logos for Fast Retailing’s casual-clothing chain Uniqlo to artwork for Japan’s popular boy band SMAP and premier fashion designer Issey Miyake. Now he is taking on a new challenge as the creative mind behind the country’s new logo and message representing “Cool Japan,” the government’s campaign to promote modern Japanese culture abroad. It will be used by Japanese agencies and companies.
 
 
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Beginning in early November, Suntory will for the first time, introduce their internationally renowned blue rose APPLAUSE in North America. With nearly 100% blue-pigmented petals, blue rose APPLAUSE is the world's first blue rose, a technically sophisticated and wondrously stunning flower with a delicate blue color. The hue of the dawn sky, with a refined and colorfully refreshing scent, blue rose APPLAUSE captivated the international audience when it first went on sale in Tokyo in 2009.
 
 
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This sound-absorbing blind called Feltone, is available from Tokyo Blinds. Made of felt, it absorbs the sound waves, converting them into thermal energy through repeated reflection. The blinds can reduce an 89dB source by 4dB, resulting in a 60% noise power reduction.
 
 
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Sanrio Co. aims to spend as much as ¥30 billion to buy the rights to a character for the first time and cut its reliance on Hello Kitty. "We want to diversify our character portfolio instead of spending time to boost recognition of our existing characters in overseas markets," Managing Director Susumu Emori, 62, said in an interview.
 
 
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Japanese retailer Ryohin Keikaku Co. has published a book detailing the history of its popular Muji consumer product brand to mark its 30th anniversary. The 256-page book, which is available in Japanese, English and Chinese, is filled with photographs of Muji products and retail spaces around the world. It is the "most natural and realistic depiction of Muji," Kenya Hara, a designer and Muji advisory board member, said recently in New York.
 
 
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The Japanese have long endured crowded cities and scarce living space, with homes so humble a scornful European official once branded them rabbit hutches. But in recent years, Japanese architects have turned necessity into virtue, vying to design unorthodox and visually stunning houses on remarkably narrow pieces of land. In the process, they are also redefining the rules of home design.
 
 
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 For those still in love with the blips and beeps of their favorite retro games, Bandai’s new Bousou (wild idea) Controller key chain, which goes on sale March 20, is a dream come true. Available for Street Fighter II, Xevious and Family Stratagem the controller is shaped like an old-school game pad and re-creates the sounds of the dawn of the digital era.
 
 
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The international war of height continues as Japan reworks a plan to reach a new world record. Plans for the Tokyo Sky Tree have been changed in the hopes of making it the world’s tallest tower when it is scheduled to be opened in early 2012.
 
 
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There may be a recession, but that doesn't mean that we can't afford style, thanks to some Japanese brand concepts which seem to blossom even more now that others draw back from the market. Five companies especially attract buyers in Japan and are worthy a little insight: Uniqlo, Tsuru, Brooks Brothers, the Art Convenience Store and Barneys New York.
 
 
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Tokyo - a city on the edge of Asia, is increasingly an international metropolis. It was here that, in the spring of 1992, the first full - scale complex of interior design showrooms of its kinds in Japan, came into being - the TOKYO DESIGN CENTER. It functions as a meeting place for designers, manufacturers and users to enable people to incorporate design into their own lives as fully as possible. Here they can select the finest in contract and residential furniture, carpets, floor coverings, fabrics, wall coverings, lighting and accessories from Europe, America and Asia.
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