From the editor’s keyboard: On the road
By Maria Weiskott -- Playthings, 8/10/2005 5:30:00 AM
TOKYO—Walk into a toy store in this bustling city and you’ll see something you likely won’t see in a bustling city here in the States: a kid over 8 years old (10, even!), shopping for a plaything.
Undaunted by store names like Kiddie Land, Toy Park, or just plain “Toys” for that matter, even tweens and teens can be found shopping in Tokyo’s independent toy shops. We were, in fact, amazed by the span of age groups—from toddlers with parents (and their wallets) in tow, to kids who looked like they were of high school age—browsing and shopping.
Several years ago the Japan Toy Industry—in the face of a seriously declining kid population (last year the country’s fertility rate dropped to 1.28 children per family)—reformulated its marketing goals. Today, we were told, the industry markets to kids from 0 to 90; and the merchandise is proof of the marketing effort.
Japan’s toy business has also suffered from setbacks similar to those in the states; namely, a considerable closure of toy store doors. Ten years ago, there were about 6,000 independent toy retailers in the country; today there are less than 1,000, our host informed us.
Our Japanese host also told us that the decline began with the arrival of Toys “R” Us some 15 years ago. Concurrent with the massive business failures, came the demise of the country’s toy wholesalers, too. (Well, hey, TRU is the original category killer, right?)
The wholesalers were once housed in the country’s Toy District—Kura Mai—in Tokyo. Over 100 toy wholesalers went out of business as Toys “R” Us brought a new way of doing business to the country, our host said. The Toy District has now just about disappeared altogether (sounds eerily familiar…).
Today, there are some 155 Toys “R” Us stores in Japan, a country the size of California. But so far, no Wal-Marts (although the world’s biggest retailer does own a large share of Japan’s Seiyu chain—a relationship that is watched with great interest there).
Nevertheless, Japan’s independent toy retailers are getting some fierce competition from another mass market phenom: camera stores—namely Big Camera and Yodo Bashi. Our host told us these camera stores are selling toys as loss leaders (yikes, there’s that eerily familiar feeling again…).
But I digress…
We were talking about the product mix that brings Japanese consumers of all ages into a toy store.
The “draw” begins outside the store, with employees demonstrating everything from R/C vehicles to die cast cars to novelty gadgets, while actively chatting up prospective shoppers. (Indeed, any of the salespeople we watched at a number of independent stores could easily be tapped for an FAO Schwarz toy “audition!”)
Once inside the store, it’s obvious why there is such an age range among customers; in addition to an incredibly diverse mix of product, there is plenty of interaction. In fact, we saw several stores that boasted an arcade section that equally attracted boys and girls of all ages—as well as their parents and grandparents.
Arcade games aside, Tokyo’s independent toy retailers also have sections devoted to sweets, trendy tween items, comics and graphic novels, accessories (including tee shirts, socks and other clothing items), hi-tech novelty objects, licensed products, low-flying R/C gadgets, gag gifts and pricey collectibles locked behind glass doors, as well as the classics we are used to seeing here.
Interestingly, Thomas and Friends appears to be as ubiquitous in Tokyo as it is in Everytown, USA; the Brio railway system, Playmobil, Lego, Disney princesses, Sylvanian Families and Miffy, whose 50th anniversary was being highly touted were everywhere. Not as ubiquitous, however: Barbie and her nemesis Bratz.
Editor in chief Maria Weiskott and toy store owner Mayumi
Terao at the Toyshop in Tokyo’s temple district.
Customers of all ages wait for the doors to open at the Toy Park
in downtown Tokyo where Lego Star Wars products were the
week’s feature.
Novelty items that combine favorite characters (a touch of retro?)
and technology are the rage for all age groups.
Tokyo teens check out the clothing offerings at Kiddy Land,
which boasts five floors of merchandise
Outside Kiddy Land, store manager Koichi Shiotani, enjoys a
live demonstration of an R/C operated Doraemon—one of the
most popular comic characters in Japan.
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