japan

Were Employees Forced To Buy Merchandise At Prada Japan?

Big drama at Prada Japan. Our sister blog Daily Finance has a fascinating piece on a legal imbroglio that has dogged the luxury retailer's Japan branch. A former retail manager at Prada Japan, Rina Bovrisse (pictured), has claimed that the retailer forced employees to buy Prada bags and other items in order to cover up the fact that sales were falling. Bovrisse faced the luxury retailer in complaint court in Japan. That case was ruled "unsettled," and so a civil lawsuit was filed.

Bovrisse and two other former employees claim that, beginning in January 2009, the company forced its workers to purchase products. The sales could not be entered as employee purchases but had to be entered as a customer's full price purchase. That way the purchases would give Prada Milan, the worldwide headquarters of the brand, the impression that Japanese stores were meeting their sales targets. Employees were then paid back out of funds that were to be used for the company's holiday party and were marked as as "campaign" salary. But even then the employees were responsible for taxes on what was considered bonus pay and had to pay additional money. This situation limped along for a while and even after the reimbursements ran dry some Prada Japan employees were told that they needed to continue to purchase products or else the company would be forced to downsize. The requirements continued and Bovrisse says she personally bought $20,000 worth of products. Employees were strapped, they were struggling to pay their bills but were also scared that if they didn't buy they wouldn't have jobs. It's unclear when if ever Prada Milan knew about the program but so far it has denied responsibility for the program.

Luxury continues to be in flux in Japan.In 2008 Louis Vuitton scrapped plans for a new Ginza flagship store. Last year, Versace pulled out of Japan altogether. Instead of luxury stores, it's fast fashion stores like Uniqlo, H&M and Zara that are doing big business now. Forever 21 recently opened in the Ginza district where once only luxury brands flourished. In the past years, logo chasing was important to the Japanese but now many trendsetters favor a high-low approach, combining expensive pieces with more inexpensive items or pairing vintage finds with new pieces. The recognizable names are no longer quite as valuable to the consumer and luxury brands have seen sales drop as a result.

Tags: ginza, japan, luxury brands, prada, prada japan

Japanophiles This Way: Drainspotting and Idle Idol from Mark Batty Publisher

by Jonathon Ramsey (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Books

Mark Batty Publisher has added two Japanese-subculture themed coffee table books to its collection: Drainspotting by Remo Camerota, and Idle Idol by Edward and John Harrison. The former takes a colorful look at decorative manhole covers found throughout Japan, with more than 1,700 municipalities having taken the time to adorn their manhoru with regional colors, symbols and markers.

Anyone who's taken a stroll down Tokyo streets – or spent a few hours in the Otaku area – knows of the Japanese affinity for figurines. Idle Idol is a pictorial introduction to life-sized mascots used to greet, sell, get attention, or just show off. Broken up into categories, Hero, Legend, Spokesperson, TV Star, Entertainer, Chef, Doctor, Meeter and Greeter, you'll run into everything from Hello Kitty and Astro Boy to Totoro and Colonel Sanders. Yes, that Colonel Sanders, because there is simply no place like Japan...

Gallery: Drainspotting from Mark Batty Publisher

Gallery: Idle Idol from Mark Batty Publisher

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Tags: astro boy, coffee table books, drainspotting, hello kitty, japan, mark batty publishing, publishing

Seiko Fires CEO In Rare Japanese Corporate Move

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Executive terminations in the USA aren't usually very newsworthy - nor in Europe for that matter. But in Japan where the historic sentiment was "job for life," the outing of a CEO by the board is a big deal. Especially when the termination wasn't even disguised as "resignation." 72 year old former top executive of Seiko Koichi Murano (not the man in the picture here) was removed by the board recently for flat out doing a bad job. From the outside it is almost impossible to determine exactly what Mr. Murano did improperly (for likely a long period of time), but it was enough for his dismissal to be referred to as being due to "dogmatic, and tendentious" management of the company. For a Japanese brand to remove someone for being inflexible and likely highly bureaucratic is saying a lot. I actually am proud of Seiko's move. When something doesn't work properly you fix it. Seiko made no cover-up of its management musical chairs, and I think the move speaks positively of them from a public relations perspective and for brand confidence.

While I didn't meet Mr. Murano during my visit to Seiko, I did meet his replacement, 52 year old Shinji Hattori (the man in the picture). A high-level executive Seiko himself, Mr. Hattori will now oversee that entire (complex) entity that is Seiko. Seiko lost money last year - likely due to the highly depressed watch industry, but remains one of the top watch makers in the world. Comparatively speaking, they didn't lose that much money though. Mr. Hattori will be responsible for modernizing Seiko a bit in terms of marketing, sales, and distribution, I am sure. I can't say much else about him, but at least he isn't a "dogmatic manager." A year from now we will see how things work out for the major Japanese company.

Via Financial Times.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: CEO, Japan, koichi murano, Seiko, Shinji Hattori, watch, watch brands, watches

Zoka: Drink Your 'Cup of Excellence' All Afternoon

by Annie Scott (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

Zoka is nominated for a Luxist Award for Best Coffee House

Zoka is a Seattle-based coffee company with cafes in Washington and Japan, and is a nominee for a Readers' Choice Award for Best Coffee House.

At Zoka, you'll find coffees and teas from Africa, Central and South America, Asia and the Pacific Islands, as well as tasty homemade baked goods, some vegan, for soaking up all that caffeine (the chocolate truffle cookies are especially recommended). They pride themselves on their Cup of Excellence winning coffees, artisan-roasted beans and many single-origin coffees which they roast in small batches to preserve the uniqueness and pungence of the flavors.

Gallery: More from ZOKA

For coffee house frequenters, Zoka provides a comfortable home. Rather than rushing you out the door, they lure you in with complimentary wifi and hope you'll stay all afternoon. And for the busier coffee geeks out there, you can join one of their three Coffee Clubs to have fresh, artisan-roasted coffee delivered to you monthly. Many of their coffees and teas are also available for purchase online.
Do yourself a favor and visit their website in advance of visiting a shop -- there are so many options and you don't want to miss your ideal cup of coffee or tea. You can browse by region or varietal for coffee, and by usual leaf category (green, black, oolong) for tea. We think the Organic Sumatra Permata Gayo Coffee sounds especially enticing: "Floral notes of orange peel up front, mellowing into blackberry jam and finishes with sassafras and sweet malt."

Yum.

Vote for the coffee house that you believe is the best of breed. The voting period runs through April 30 and winners will be announced on May 1.

Tags: awards-main, coffee, coffee house, Japan, luxist-awards, Washington, Zoka

Japanese Architect's House Uses Supercars as Decor

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor, Estates, Luxury Cars & Autos

Japanese architect Takyua Tsuchida has designed the ultimate abode for a car collector short on space in Tokyo. The 2,000-sq.-ft. dwelling features a through-floor garage / lift / display unit so the owner can enjoy his assemblage of supercars as part of a rotating decor scheme. The storage space holds nine cars, including a special Anniversary Edition Lamborghini Countach, which can be elevated for display in the living room via a hydraulic platform. Dubbed the "KRE", the house is light, airy, modern and minimalist with unfinished wooden floors, the better to display the owner's supercar collection to advantage. The interior also features Bauhaus furniture and a full-sized living tree. Tsuchida's No. 555 design studio has won many awards and accolades from avant garde architecture publications.

Gallery: Supercar House by Takyua Tsuchida

Tags: architect, architecture, car collection, garage, Japan, Lamborghini, supercars, takyua tsuchida, Tokyo

Erotic Classic Japanese Art In One Book By Phaidon Press

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art, Books

This interesting publication is certainly not safe for the family room. Dating back literally hundreds of years, Japan (among other cultures actually) has a history for high quality erotic art. Much of it was produced during the ukiyo-e period that ranged from the 17th - 19th century. The art has a feeling just as you would expect from traditional Japanese art, and much of the work was done by some of their major famous historic artists - such as Hokusai, Utamaro, and Kuniyoshi. Those instead of a large wave, fishing boat, or calm mountain scene, these paintings are are taboo defying images of sexuality and hidden passions from a culture that mostly repressed such thoughts from being publicly discussed. The images here are "safe for all eyes," but not that the majority of these works are for adults only. This is old-world Japan hentai - a sexually charged art style popular in Japan today.

This classic art (known as Shunga, or "spring images") and stories from this era were contained in "pillow books." Pillow books had a variety of purposes similar to what we would use such imagery today - to inform, entertain, and of course arouse. The difference is the quality of the work being on par with the era's finest paintings and other master works. Shunga works were mostly originally done on wood, and are great collector's item all over the world. In the upcoming publication Poem of the Pillow and Other Great Stories: Erotic Japanese Art by Utamaro, Hokusai, Kuniyoshi and other artists of the Floating World, by Phaidon Press, much of this famous art is collected in one source. The book will have 350 full color images done in Phaidon's typical high quality style. The 384 page, beautifully presented book will be available soon and comes with a large erotic scene image by Utamaro that can be framed. Price is just $49.95 and available in June.

Gallery: Erotic Classic Japanese Art In One Book By Phaidon Press

Tags: book, erotic, gian carlo calza, GianCarloCalza, hokusai, japan, japanese, phaidon, poem of the pillow, PoemOfThePillow, shunga, utamaro

Palro Robot by Fujisoft: So Cute But What Does It Do?

by Deb West (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Gadgets

A big question is: Does the public care what it does? It seems that the products designed by the robot industry are caught somewhere between being a very expensive toy and useless. Ever since Rosie was introduced on the Jetsons in the 1960s there has been a collective fantasy that a real housekeeper robot will miraculously emerge on the scene to help busy people manage their lives. Who wouldn't be interested in a helping hand who could cook, walk the dog and in general help out around the house? The Roomba vacuum, which can help with cleaning up some extra pet hair, doesn't count! Video chatting has become a simple reality; where is our "Rosie"?

At the moment The Japan Pulse reports that the newest robot to hit the market is the Palro Robot by Fujisoft. Showcased recently in Japan this cute humanoid stands a little over a foot tall and performs a variety of tasks. Included in this robot's repertoire is the ability to interact with household appliances such as televisions and cameras, act on voice commands, read out weather and news reports and of course the ever useful ability to dance. For those of you technology geeks who want to know the specifics here they are: Palro comes with a 1.6GHz CPU Intel Atom CPU, 1 GB of RAM, 4 GB of flash memory, a 3 MP camera, Wi-Fi, 802.11 b/g/n, 3 megapixel webcam and a lithium ion battery.

The company plans to sell the robots starting on March 15, 2010 with the main market being research institutions but plans to sell it to the rest of soon after for a hefty price tag of 298,000 Yen which is over $3,000 US dollars for each humanoid pal! For those of you with some cash to burn Palro seems like an excellent luxury toy but I'm waiting for my "Rosie"!

Check out video of Palro in action after the jump.

Tags: cute, fujisoft, Japan, palro, Robots, technology, toys

Continue reading “Palro Robot by Fujisoft: So Cute But What Does It Do?”

The Downscaling of Ginza, The Changing Face Of Japanese Luxury

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Tokyo's Ginza district has long been known as Japan's most fashionable shopping street but the street's changes reflecting the country's fluctuating economic picture. The Independent has an interesting piece on the street's shifting fortunes which have seen luxury brands moving out to make room for a new kind of retailer. In 2008 Louis Vuitton scrapped plans for a new Ginza flagship store. Last year, Versace pulled out of Japan altogether. But those store windows aren't staying vacant. Instead fast fashion stores like Uniqlo, Abercrombie & Fitch, H&M and Zara have moved in. The operators of Japan's Seibu department store announced that the store is closing but Forever 21 is moving in. Where there was once Gucci, now there is Gap.

Last year I wrote about the changing look of luxury in Japan. In the past years, logo-chasing was important to the Japanese shead-to-toe Louis Vuitton was seen as chic. Now many trendsetters favor a high-low approach, combining expensive pieces with more inexpensive items or pairing vintage finds with new pieces. The Ginza area still has enough fancy stores to attract tourists in search of a bit of glamour but with tourism down, focusing on more dependable, regular shoppers seems like a smart strategy.

Tags: fast fashion, FastFashion, forever 21, Forever21, ginza, gucci, hm, japan, louis vuitton, LouisVuitton, shopping, tokyo, zara

Tourism Lagging in Japan So Pack Your Bags and Go!

by Deb West (RSS feed) —

The Japanese National Tourism Organization announced that the number of foreign visitors to Japan are down. Just a year ago in 2008 the number of visitors to Japan was at a record high of 8.35 million and now the number has fallen by 18.7 percent to 6.79 million. It is the biggest drop in the rate of tourism the country has seen in forty years.

The decline is being attributed to the global economic downturn, a strong yen which makes travel to Japan expensive and fears over the swine flu. Interestingly the country's largest tourism markets are South Korea, Taiwan and China. Japan had been enjoying an increase of visitors for decades. In 1989 there were 2.84 million tourists and a decade later in 1999 the number had almost doubled to 4.44 million visitors.

Some of the biggest hassles one encounters when traveling revolve around other tourists. The best news for people who are interested in going abroad to a country whose tourism numbers are down is that they are likely to experience less crowded conditions at major attractions and even promotional deals from hotels with unexpected seasonal vacancies.

Tags: Japan, Kyoto, ryokan, tourism, travel

Continue reading “Tourism Lagging in Japan So Pack Your Bags and Go!”

$2,500 Green Tea is Good for Health and Bragging Rights, Other Benefits Unknown

by Jonathon Ramsey (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits, Green

If price is the yardstick, then Masa Super Premium can certainly claim to be "King of Green"– in more ways than one. Royal Blue Tea began taking reservations last month for the 36 bottles that is has pledged to make of what must be the finest green tea... ever.

To do that making, "rare" leaves are picked in the prefecture of Shizuoka, where a great deal of the world's green tea hails from. They are infused for three days in their pure, naked state, and the resulting elixir is poured into 750-ml wine bottles. The bottle is put in a wooden box and voilà, somewhere in there you ended up with ¥210,000 ($2,271 U.S.) worth of verdant, liquid health.

The tea will be shipping in February and March of this year, so get in touch with Royal Blue if you think you'd be better off with one bottle of Masa than two round trip tickets and a spa weekend at the Mandarin Oriental. If you opt for the latter, though, you might want to take along a bottle of Royal Blue's Fall In Love imperial-grade tea, which will only set you back ¥10,500 ($114 U.S.).

Source

Tags: green tea, GreenTea, japan, masa super premium, MasaSuperPremium, royal blue, RoyalBlue, tea

The World's Coolest New Bar

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Spirits

The world's coolest new bar has just opened at the ultra-luxe Ayana Resort & Spa in Bali. To get to the Rock Bar, towering 46 feet above the crashing waves, you have to take a special lift that traverses the face of a dramatic craggy seaside cliff. There are uninterrupted, 360-degree views on all sides in a setting any Bond villain would love. Designed by Yasuhiro Koichi of Japan's Design Studio SPIN, it's an enviable feat of engineering, architecture and mixology. Designed to ensure maximum seclusion for every guest, the Ayana's 78 free-standing, cliff-top luxury villas are set in traditional Balinese compounds with private pools surrounded by tropical gardens.

[via Duncan Quinn]

Tags: architecture, Ayana Resort Spa, AyanaResortSpa, Bali, bar, cocktails, Japan, ocean, resort

Seiko Galante Spring Drive 5th Anniversary Special Edition Watch

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Wow, has it already been five years of deprivation from this awesome watch? Only in Japan can you (officially) get one of these very cool timepieces. This is the Galante Spring Drive watch. Galante is a Seiko sub brand, and has been spicing things up for Seiko in Japan for the "youthfully stylish - but wealthy" demographic. I understand that they are growing in popularity there.

The Galante watches are far from just image. These are extremely well constructed and designed, hand assembled watches that include the very impressive (and accurate) Seiko Spring Drive mechanical hybrid movements. They are the best of what Seiko offers and are considered by many to be a modern pinnacle of mechanical watch making.

I haven't handled this specific 5th Anniversary Special Edition model, but have handled very similar Galante watches on the metal bracelet. I was quite wowed by them, especially given the jewelry-like quality and feel of the steel bracelet. The design as I said is youthful and inspired, with unique decoration. As you can see, the rotating bezel is engraved with a form of floral decoration, and if you look closely on the dial, you can make out the forms for roses (as see from the side) that are part of the dial design.

The watch is nicely sized at 44.5mm wide, and houses the Seiko 5R66 Spring Drive movement that includes the time, power reserve indicator, date, and GMT hand. Seiko makes sure that each of its luxury watches are a complete timepiece package. Meaning they are well made, function well, and look good. Price is gonna be over $5,000 (not sure of exact amount) and as far as I know you'll have to contact a Japanese Seiko dealer if you want one.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: 5th, Anniversary, Galante, Japan, Seiko, Special Edition, SpecialEdition, Spring Drive, SpringDrive, watch, watch of the day, WatchOfTheDay

New Phones from NTT Docomo Japan

by Deb West (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Gadgets

It is always interesting to take a look at what some of the foreign manufacturers are producing for their luxury electronic lines. It seems that the series of new phones being offered by NTTDocomo Japan are heading in many different directions.

Some of the items that caught my eye, in particular because I thought they were beautiful and slightly unusual, are the prototypes for the Touch Wood phones. Not yet in mass production these phones are only able to be seen at trade shows in Switzerland and Japan.

The phones are being created as a joint venture with the "more trees" reforestation project founded by musician Ryuichi Sakamoto and others. They are made with specially treated wood from the thinned forests in Japan managed by the "more trees" project. Each handset is unique featuring the particular grains, patterns and natural coloring of the tree from which it was made. No artificial paints or colors are used in the unique compression process developed by the Olympus Corporation. The cypress phones are much more durable than other phones with wood bodies, are resistant to water and will keep their natural shine. I just thought they were beautiful.

For the those who are less ecologically oriented, the company is also releasing the Docomo "style series." This includes the F-02B which is a jewelry quality waterproof phone with a snap on perfume holder, the L-02B which comes with a special content for beauty tips and the N-01B with deigns and colors inspired by French manicure designs.

Let's just say that the company is busy covering all angles of the phone market!

Gallery: Touchwood Phones

Tags: Docomo, Japan, more trees, MoreTrees, phone, Ryuichi Sakamoto, RyuichiSakamoto, touch wood, TouchWood

Seiko: The Luxury Watch Brand You Didn't Know Existed

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Have you, or anyone you know, ever complained about how Japan gets cool stuff that the rest of the world is left longing for? Electronics, games, cars, and also luxury watches. Sure you can get Seiko watches all over the world. In fact, Seiko is one of the most popular watch brands on the planet. Not all Seiko watches are made alike though. One the one hand you have most 'rank and file' Seiko watches that are known to be inexpensive and reliable watches. The "Toyota of watches" as many people call them.

On the other hand, there the other side to Seiko, the luxury watch maker. Deep inside Japan are several Seiko watch manufacturers making some of the best and most reliable luxury watches ever created. These are the "Lexus of watches." Until recently such highly desirable watches have been mostly for the Japanese domestic market only. Bearing such names like Grand Seiko and Credor, most Westerners didn't even know of their existence. There also exists a large population of American and European (among other places) watch lovers who are aware of the Seiko treasures in Japan, and are almost pained by the fact that they cannot get them locally. The good news is that is about to start changing.

Enter the Seiko Ananta line of watches. Finally a global high-end product from Seiko that contain the high-end 100% manufacture-made movements and watches. Why the important of "manufacture-made?" Today everyone speaks about "manufacture movements." These are movements in watches made all in-house by the manufacturer with out having third part companies make them. Such in-house movements are considered to be at the top of the heap for luxury watch desirability. The majority of watch brands don't make their own movements. Seiko does however. In fact, Seiko is of the few totally vertically integrated watch makers in the world.

Gallery: seiko ananta watches

Tags: ananta, chronograph, Japan, luxury, seiko, spring drive, SpringDrive, watch

Continue reading “Seiko: The Luxury Watch Brand You Didn't Know Existed”

Versace No Longer Big In Japan?

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel

Is Japan losing its luxury appeal? Last year LVMH scrapped plans for a new Vuitton flagship store in Tokyo's Ginza shopping district and now Versace is pulling out completely. Bloomberg reports that Gianni Versace SpA will close its Japanese stores as part of an overall review of the company business strategy. A statement from the company said in part that the Versace boutiques in Japan " no longer represented the brand image and it was felt to be more advantageous for the company to close them and start with a clean slate." The fashion company has three stores in Japan, one in Osaka, one in Tokyo and one in Chiba according to the Versace website.Overall Japan's market for imported luxury goods has been shrinking in recent years.

Earlier this year I asked the team at Luxist Japan about the new Japanese attitude toward luxury. They reported that many of the more mass-marketed luxury brands are no longer faring as well with Japanese consumers. Like American consumers the Japanese are becoming adept at high-low dressing and are more interested in creating their own mix and match outfits without relying on copying what they see in store windows. Japan's luxury goods decrease may not represent as much of an overall disinterest in luxury goods as much as it does a less ambitious attitude toward overt logo chasing.

[Thanks, Lori!]

Source

Tags: japan, luxury, versace

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