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Tag: Japan

  • Vinatex and Itochu sign strategic co-operation agreement

    Vinatex and Itochu sign strategic co-operation agreement

    Viet Nam Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex) on Monday signed a strategic co-operation agreement with Japanese firm Itochu, witnessed by PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe in Ha Noi.

    Itochu is expected to help Vinatex make a change in textiles and garment production and business method from Cut—Make—Trim to Free on Board, developing a sustainable retail distribution network to enjoy long-term benefits.

    Under the agreement, trading firm Itochu will assume the role of a consulting partner for Vinatex and its member companies in developing the textiles and garment supply chain from fibre to thread, fabric and sewing, retail distribution, co-operation and introducing domestic and foreign partners.

    Shuichi Koseki, senior managing executive officer, manager of CP·CITIC Strategy Office, president of Textile Company and representative director, said Viet Nam’s textiles and garment were an important part of Itochu, therefore it wanted to develop this area with Viet Nam, so that Vinatex could become its number one partner.

    In the near future, he said Itochu would boost co-operation between the two sides to develop textiles and garment products and supply them globally.

    Speaking at the signing ceremony, Le Tien Truong, general director of Vinatex, said the two sides would discuss in detail the co-operation plan and implement actions immediately to make a change in Vinatex’s textiles and garment production and business method from Cut—Make—Trim to Free on Board, developing a sustainable retail distribution network to enjoy long-term benefits.

    Itochu signed a framework agreement to support several projects in dyeing and materials production in Viet Nam, training in the country’s dyeing sector and utilising the capacity of Vinatex’s dyeing factories in the central region in 2015.

    At that time, Itochu owned five per cent stake in Vinatex through a subsidiary company.

    Itochu, one of the leading economic groups in Japan operating in various areas, including textiles and garment, has co-operated with some 100 textiles and garment companies of Viet Nam.

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  • McDonald’s Japan stake for sale

    McDonald’s Japan stake for sale

    McDonald’s has reportedly invited bids for a “significant stake”  in its McDonald’s Japan unit.

    The Wall Street Journal has quoted “people familiar with the matter” saying the company is looking for buyers for up to 33 per cent of the shares, from its nearly 50 per cent stake in the listed Japanese company.

    The report said initial bids were due to be lodged this week and that a number of private-equity firms are considering the opportunity.

    Last week McDonald’s released terms of its sale of 80 per cent of its China and Hong Kong business, giving 20-year rights to the brand to state-backed Citic Ltd and private equity company Carlyle Group.

    The beleaguered Japanese business last February reported its first increase in customer numbers in nearly three years after a tumultuous period in which sales plummeted and the store network was heavily rationalised.

    Internal company figures showed footfall at stores open for more than one year rose by more than 10 per cent Japan-wide. Better yet, same-store sales rose by as much as 30 per cent, according to a report by Reuters.

    McDonald’s Holdings Co (Japan) has projected a net profit of about 1 billion yen (US$8.47 million) for the year to December 2016 – which would mark its first time out of the red in three years since a food safety scandal relating to expired chicken hit the brand in 2014. In January 2015 sales plunged 38.6 per cent, customer ranks depleted by 28.5 per cent.

    In April 2015 the company unveiled a plan to cull its restaurant network and revamp remaining stores after a US$319 million loss.

    It also revised its menu, adding salads which has clearly drawn customers back to restaurants.

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  • SuperGroup thrives after downsizing logos

    SuperGroup thrives after downsizing logos

    SuperGroup was a clear winner last Christmas as it benefitted from the weak pound and the opening of net nine new stores in the 10-week Christmas period helping to boost revenue to £162.1 million.

    SuperGroup’s conventional approach to discounting, with a series of online category specific promotions before Christmas and a clearance sale after, drove full price sales throughout most of the trading period.

    SuperGroup’s deliberate move away from the heavy logoed product of the past and investment in its womenswear ranges and premium menswear collection means Superdry has become a more fashion focused brand that has greater mass appeal – albeit its distinctive design flair still helps differentiate its offer from rivals.

    Communication of its updated ranges to new consumers is now imperative to its success. For females its investment in making stores more gender neutral will help shift views that it is a male brand, but with almost 50 per cent of women shopping menswear, it should consider assigning prime floorspace to womenswear to make it more appealing to browse collections when instore.

    In menswear it continues to outperform the sector boosted by its sportswear range and the prolonged athleisure trend. Despite its strong performance it still needs to shift perceptions that it is solely a casualwear retailer. The Idris Elba premium collection presents clothing that aligns it with new competitors such as Ted Baker, Whistles and Reiss; however winning the attention of these shoppers will remain difficult as merchandising, even in newer formats, still primarily focuses on casualwear.

    Dedicated window displays of the premium collection is one way Superdry can tempt new shoppers who have more tailored tastes in store and away from established smarter casualwear menswear retailers.

  • Takata to pay $1 billion to settle U.S. air bag probe

    Takata to pay $1 billion to settle U.S. air bag probe

    Japan’s Takata is expected to plead guilty to criminal wrongdoing as early as Friday as part of a $1 billion settlement with the U.S. Justice Department over its handling of air bag ruptures linked to 16 deaths worldwide, sources said.

    The settlement includes a $25 million criminal fine, $125 million in victim compensation and $850 million to compensate automakers who have suffered losses from massive recalls, the sources said.

    The settlement also calls for an independent monitor of the Japanese auto parts manufacturer. It could help Takata win financial backing from an investor to potentially restructure and pay for massive liabilities from the world’s biggest auto safety recall.

    The company is poised to plead guilty to wire fraud, or providing false test data to U.S. regulators, according to the sources, who were not authorized to discuss the settlement publicly.

    In 2015, Takata admitted in a separate $70 million settlement with U.S. auto safety regulators that it was aware of a defect in its air bag inflators but did not issue a timely recall.

    It admitted it provided the regulator, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), with “selective, incomplete or inaccurate data” dating back at least six years and also provided automakers with selective, incomplete or inaccurate data.

    The wire fraud charge is expected to be filed in U.S. District Court in Detroit. The Justice Department is considering naming Ken Feinberg, a longtime compensation adviser, to oversee the Takata settlement funds. He declined to comment on Thursday.

    The settlement is expected to include restitution to some victims and automakers, who have been forced to recall vehicles with the defective inflators. Honda Motor Co (7267.T) and Takata have settled nearly all lawsuits filed in connection with fatal crashes. The recall impacts 19 automakers including Ford Motor Co (F.N), General Motors Co (GM.N), Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T), Volkswagen AG (VOWG_p.DE) Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (FCHA.MI).

    Takata spokesman Jared Levy declined to comment.

    Deaths linked to the company’s air bag inflators include 11 in the United States – nearly all in Honda vehicles. Regulators have said recalls would eventually affect about 42 million U.S. vehicles with nearly 70 million Takata air bag inflators, making this the largest safety recall in U.S. history.

    Takata is expected to agree to come up with the $1 billion within a year or when it secures a financial backer.

    Senators Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Edward Markey of Massachusetts backed a Takata deal but said in a joint statement they were “deeply concerned that the DOJ settlement appears to only target Takata Corporation and no executives.” The senators also said that if the company “files for bankruptcy, its new creditors, and not Takata, would be responsible for paying criminal fines on the company’s behalf.”

    Reuters reported in November Takata was considering a bankruptcy filing for its U.S. unit as the air bag maker looks for a sponsor to help pay for liabilities related to its faulty air bag inflators.

    The inflators can explode with excessive force, launching metal shrapnel at passengers in cars and trucks. Many of those killed were involved in low-speed crashes that they otherwise may have survived, including a 17-year-old high school senior in Texas killed last year. At least 184 people have been injured in the United States as well.

    In November 2015, Takata agreed to pay a $70 million fine for safety violations with U.S. auto safety regulators and could face deferred penalties of up to $130 million under a NHTSA settlement.

    The agency named a former U.S. Justice Department official to oversee the Takata recalls and the company’s compliance with the safety settlement.

    Last month, NHTSA said it would press the auto industry to accelerate the pace of replacements for defective Takata inflators and signaled a likely widening of the safety recall. Only about one third of the inflators recalled have been replaced, leaving more than 30 million to be fixed.

    In June, NHTSA warned that Takata air bag inflators on more than 300,000 unrepaired recalled Honda vehicles showed a substantial risk of rupturing, and urged owners to stop driving the “unsafe” cars pending a fix.

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  • Fast retailing bright faith

    Fast retailing bright faith

    Both consolidated revenue and profit rose for apparel retailer Fast Retailing Group in the first quarter of its latest fiscal year – the three months to November 30.

    Consolidated revenue rose 1.6 per cent year-on-year to reach ¥528.8 billion (U$4.6 billion), while profit soared 16.7 per cent to reach ¥88.5 billion.

    The gross profit margin held steady as the company continued its group-wide cost-cutting drive initiated in fiscal 2016.

    With the group recording a foreign exchange gain of ¥15.6 billion, the consolidated profit rose considerably in the quarter, with profit before taxes increasing by 34.2 per cent to ¥104.2 billion, and profit attributable to the owners of the parent expanding by 45.1 per cent to ¥69.6 billion.

    Breaking down the first-quarter performance into the three individual business segments, Uniqlo Japan increased both revenue and profit, Uniqlo International had a fall in revenue but a rise in profit, and Global Brands had a rise in revenue but a fall in profit.

    With its medium-term vision to become the world’s No. 1 apparel digital retailer, the group is focussing its efforts on expanding Uniqlo International and its low-priced GU casual-fashion brand.

    It is continuing to grow Uniqlo store numbers in each country where it has a presence, opening global flagship stores and large-format stores in major cities. It is also expanding GU, which has grown into a second-pillar brand for the group. It has opened more GU stores within Japan and has been accelerating the brand’s development and store numbers in overseas markets.

    “Another medium-term goal is to revolutionise our entire supply chain, spanning all procedures from planning to design, raw materials procurement, manufacturing and retail into a new supply chain system that can fully satisfy the needs of today’s digital era.

    “The customer-centric, information-driven supply chain is designed to support a comprehensive new digital retailing business model for the Fast Retailing Group.”

    Next month, the group will move all Uniqlo product-related and commercial activities to its central Ariake headquarters.

    Uniqlo Japan

    For the quarter, Uniqlo Japan increased revenue 3.4 per cent to ¥238.8 billion, and profit by 1.8 per cent to ¥45.6 billion. Same-store and online sales grew 2.5 per cent.

    During the period, the number of stores was reduced by six to 800 (excluding 41 franchise stores) at the end of November. Three stores shifted from being directly run to become employee franchise stores.

    Same-store sales declined in September and October because of unseasonal warm weather affecting demand for fall/winter items. Once temperatures dropped in November, same-store sales picked up.

    Uniqlo International

    Revenue eased 0.2 per cent to ¥196.5 billion for Uniqlo International, but there was a 44.6 per cent rise in profit. The fall in revenue was mainly because of the effect of the stronger yen, which pushed down yen-based sales by an average 16 per cent. However, in terms of local currencies, sales rose overall.
    Profit contributions from Uniqlo Greater China and Uniqlo Southeast Asia and Oceania were especially strong.

    Fifteen years after the first Uniqlo store outside Japan opened, the international network surpassed 1000 outlets, settling at 1009 stores at the end of November, an increase of 145.

    Global Brands

    For Global Brands, revenue rose 1.1 per cent to ¥92.7 billion while profit dropped by 22.7 per cent to ¥9.5 billion. The GU casual fashion brand grew revenue but had a profit fall after unseasonal warm weather. GU same-store sales expanded only marginally over the quarter as a whole.

    The group’s Princesse Tam.tam label in France and its J Brand premium denim label in the US continued to lose money, while fashion brands Comptoir des Cotonniers and Theory had steady profits. 

    Humanitarian aid

    In October, Fast Retailing Group decided to donate US$1 million to humanitarian aid efforts in south Sudan.

    In its “All-Product Recycling” initiative, the group delivers clothing collected at Uniqlo and GU stores to refugees and displaced persons, and in November head-office employees visited Myanmar to donate about 60,000 items of clothing. The beneficiaries were internally displaced persons in the Kachin and Rakhine states.

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  • Indonesia expects more investment from Japan

    Indonesia expects more investment from Japan

    Indonesia is hoping for more investment from Japan after the scheduled meeting between President Joko Widodo and Japans Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

    This was said by Thomas Lembong, the chief of the Indonesian Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM), here on Friday.

    Shinzo Abe is scheduled to arrive in Indonesia for a two-day state visit on Sunday and Monday.

    The BKPM chief said Japan has so far been the countrys second biggest investor, focusing mainly on the infrastructure sector.

    “Projects such as power plants and Jakartas mass rapid transport system are funded by Japanese investment. In terms of investment, Japan is indeed one of our important clients,” he said in a press statement.

    Thomas Lembong said investment relations between the two countries have so far been going very well.

    “I think the Japanese premiers visit will be good for us. I also visited Japan five weeks ago and met with Japanese representatives from their chamber of commerce as well as many investors. Both countries have close relations. Japan has been an investor in Indonesia for decades now, and has been the second or the third biggest investor in the country,” he added.

    He stressed that Japanese investors have been involved in many infrastructure projects in 2016, such as power plants and the Surabaya-Sorong sea toll road project, both operational now.

    In 2017, Japanese investors plan to also invest in the real estate and property sectors.

    “Discussions have been also on about starting a medium-express train service from Jakarta to Surabaya in East Java and Japan seems interested in it. A Patimban port development project located towards the east of Jakarta and close to the automotive industrial cluster is also on the anvil. All Japanese automotive industries are there. If a big port is available there, it will make our automotive exports more efficient. The Patimban project will also be funded by the Japanese investment,” he revealed.

    Saribua Siahaan, the BKPM Japan investment promotion official, explained that a Japanese company operating in the property sector is cooperating with a local partner to realize its plan to develop housing projects across Indonesia.

    The low-cost residential development program will cater to low-income people and will match the governments one-million houses development program.

    He pointed out that Japanese investors entering the real estate and property sectors will have different market targets.

    “Some plan to carry out property development particularly catering to expatriates and middle-class and higher strata, while others target workers in industrial zones. Right now, we are still coordinating with the BKPM office in Jakarta to facilitate a big Japanese group that has signed an agreement with a housing company in Indonesia,” he informed.

    Besides discussing investment in the manufacturing sector, Japanese Prime Minister Abe would also discuss investment in the Indonesian governments other prioritized sectors.

    PM Abe plans to bring along a number of executives from companies wishing to invest in Indonesia.

    Based on BKPM data, Japan had invested US$1.6 billion in 425 projects until the third quarter in 2016 to make it the second biggest investor in Indonesia.

    This was a significant increase from US$917.27 million in 399 projects in the same period in 2015.

    Cumulatively, from January to September 2016, Japans total investment realization had reached US$4.4 billion.

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  • Forever 21 expand on activewear

    Forever 21 expand on activewear

    US fast-fashion retailer Forever 21 has launched its activewear collection globally at its stores and on its website.

    The Forever 21 Activewear Collection provides low-, medium- and high-impact pieces in an array of soft and neon hues.

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    The Fit and Run assortment is designed for high-impact activity and features bold prints, sweat resistance, matching sets and lightweight jackets.

    The Booty Sculpt assortment is designed for medium-impact activity and aims to highlight and define curves. It features black and charcoal hues, with high-waisted shorts, capris and leggings with power mesh inserts.

    forever-21-activewear-collection-1

    For low-impact activity, the Dance and Yoga assortment features soft tones and delicate styles such as loose-fitting joggers and wrap-around tops designed for layering.

    With its headquarters in Los Angeles, Forever 21 was founded in 1984 and has more than 730 stores in 48 countries including Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea and the Philippines.

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  • Shu Uemura withdrawing from Philippines

    Shu Uemura withdrawing from Philippines

    Japanese cosmetic brand Shu Uemura is withdrawing from the Philippines.

    L’Oreal Philippines has confirmed that all branches and counters of the make-up line will be shut down by the end of April.

    While officially distributed by L’Oreal Philippines, the brand believes the closing of its Philippines outlets will be beneficial in the long term.

    Shu Uemura is known for its quirky collaborations and neon-filled palettes. One of its most famous collaborations was with iconic designer Karl Lagerfeld.

    Brand founder Shu Uemura went to Hollywood in the 1950s and started working as a makeup artist, becoming in demand after working on the Paramount movie My Geisha in 1962 with actress Shirley MacLaine.

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  • S4M sets new target in travel retail

    S4M sets new target in travel retail

    Mobile advertising tech company S4M has launched a service to target more than 30 million airport travellers each week.

    Using enriched geo-localised user behavioural and contextual data, the company wants to help brands boost their presence in 30 global airports.

    “Airports are more than just transit areas – they present a huge opportunity for brands to engage with consumers,” says S4M VP of APAC sales Gavin Buxton.

    “The smartphone is an extension of the individual, so it is a must-have touchpoint when creating fully integrated brand experiences. Advertisers should be combining the omnipresence of the mobile medium with real-time geolocation at airports to deliver seamless customer journeys.”

    S4M’s “geofencing” technology helps advertisers analyse and understand mobile user profiles at airports. The company combines anonymous mobile device identifiers with GPS co-ordinates, device language settings and online periods. This mix provides advertisers with more insights into consumer behaviours and offers a new opportunity to engage with travellers at airports.

    “Consumers break away from their daily behaviours when travelling, and the only constant is their smartphones,” says S4M CEO Christophe Collet. “Our goal is to reach people in transit, whether tourists or business travellers, when they are away from their everyday routines. Brands that can deliver tailored messages to their customers, even when they are hundreds of kilometres from home, are truly transforming mobile advertising into a valuable service”.

    About 1 million people a day travel through the Skytrax-rated top five airports in Asia: Singapore Changi, Incheon, Tokyo Haneda, Hong Kong and Beijing.

    More than two-thirds of air travellers are from middle- to high-income groups, according to figures from the World Bank.

    Demographics such as luxury-brand shoppers, digital high-tech users, high-end car buyers and business travellers can be reached in a duty-free setting via mobile. Luxury brands such as L’Oreal have already used S4M’s technology for cross-country campaigns.

    S4M (Success for Mobile) is an innovative advertising technology company that transforms mobile ads into personalised content for individual users. Founded in 2011 by mobile marketing pioneers, it now services more than 350 advertisers internationally. S4M has its headquarters in Paris with more than 95 employees and five offices covering Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the US.

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  • Japan tightens inspections on shrimp shipments from Vietnam

    Japan tightens inspections on shrimp shipments from Vietnam

    The island nation now screens every last shrimp export for a banned antibiotic. Japan now screens every shipment of Vietnamese shrimp for a banned antibiotic, according to NAFIQAD Vietnam’s seafood quality control.

    Vietnam does not consider the substance fit for use as a direct food additive in foods for human consumption, according to the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP) which reported that Japan raised its shrimp sampling from 30 to 100 percent of imports on December 12.

    Local shrimp exporters have been warned to keep antibiotic sulfadiazine residues below 0.01 parts per million, said Le Hong Phong, deputy head of NAFIQAD.

    By September, the E.U. had rejected 2.2 times more shrimp than the entire preceeding year, according to NAFIQAD, which called for special scrutiny of seafood coming out of the four central provinces affected by Taiwan Formosa Plastics Group’s discharge of toxic waste in April.

    The following month, the European Union reported having rejected 11 shipments of shrimp in the past nine months due to high levels of heavy metals. The European Commission Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed found the shipments contaminated with mercury and cadmium.

    Vietnamese trade commissions in the EU, Japan, and the United States have received roughly 180 warnings about seafood contaminated with dangerous levels of antibiotic and chemical residues so far this year.

    Australia, which remained Vietnam’s largest shrimp importer for the past five years, now requires every seafood shipment from Vietnam to be scrutinized for biological toxins and bacteria.

    During the first eleven months of the year, Vietnam’s seafood exports had edged up 6.9 percent from 2015 to nearly $6.4 billion, customs statistics showed.

    At the start of the year, Vietnam announced plans to export $8 billion worth of seafood this year after reporting $6.6 billion in seafood exports in 2015.

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  • Ippudo restaurant owner applies for listing

    Ippudo restaurant owner applies for listing

    Ramen restaurant chain Ippudo’s owner is expected to list shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange as early as March.

    The total market value of the initial offering is projected to be around 30 billion yen (US$259 million).

    Chikaranomoto Holdings has about 60 Ippudo restaurants as well as other brands outside of Japan. It filed an initial listing application in December, which means approval could come next month. The listing is expected to let the group accelerate expansion in domestic and overseas markets.

    Company founder and chairman Shigemi Kawahara opened his first ramen shop in 1985 in Fukuoka Prefecture in southwestern Japan. The company posted group sales of 20.8 billion yen for the year through to March 2016, up 17 per cent from the previous year.

    Ippudo began expanding into foreign markets in 2008, establishing itself first in New York. The chain now has shops in China, France and other countries, and will open its first outlet in Myanmar soon.

    Inspired by New York’s cocktail bars, Chikaranomoto Holdings opened standing-style ramen shops in Tokyo and nearby areas last year, and it plans to open more in Kyushu soon.

    Ippudo also has five branches in the Philippines.

  • Prada Japan opens airport store

    Prada Japan opens airport store

    Italian fashion brand Prada Japan has opened a store in Narita International Airport’s Terminal, Tokyo.

    Covering about 200 sqm, the outlet offers women’s and men’s leather goods and accessories.

    Its facade on three sides is clad in black Marquinia marble, framing the light boxes. On the two opposite sides there are two large entrances.

    The three areas in the interior are defined by the signature black-and-white marble checkered flooring as well as a deep-green watercolour-painted canvas wall covering into which green marble shelves and glass display cabinets are set.

    A sitting area offers green velvet sofas and polished-steel and glass display counters.

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  • Beijing flagship for Delvaux China

    Beijing flagship for Delvaux China

    Belgian handbag brand Delvaux China has opened a flagship store, in Taikoo Li shopping centre in Beijing’s Sanlitun district.

    Delvaux also has boutiques in Galeries Lafayette and the Yintai Center in the Chinese capital.

    Founded in 1829, the brand opened its first boutique in Hong Kong in 2014 after being acquired by Hong Kong investment group Fung Brands in 2011. It opened its first boutique in Hong Kong in 2014, followed the same year by its first Shanghai store, and a year later in Hangzhou and Beijing.

    delvaux-sanlitun-beijing-1

    When it broke into the China market, Delvaux CEO Marco Probst did not expect younger women to buy the bags.

    “Our Chinese clients were a big learning curve for us in the beginning,” he says. “We learned pretty quickly that you can have a 20-year-old girl buying a bag for $20,000, so the customer profile pretty much changed, putting the average age down to 25 to 30. Chinese clients are completely open and they learn so quickly.”

    delvaux-sanlitun-beijing-2

    Two floors

    Covering two floors, the boutique features an upstairs showroom with white walls and shelving plus white couches. For the launch, the showroom features red-leather bags to celebrate Chinese New Year.

    Probst says Delvaux hardly uses advertising campaigns, but gained a boost in interest when Korean actress Gianna Jun of the TV soap My Love from The Star was photographed carrying one of Delvaux’s Tempete bags.

    delvaux-sanlitun-beijing-3

    He says building up brand awareness in China has been achieved through “a slow, organic process” that relies mainly on word of mouth plus service that gives a feeling of exclusivity.

    Delvaux may close its Galeries Lafayette store and open one more in Shanghai and Chengdu for a total of six locations, then “that’s it”, says Probst, who is being careful about over-distributing the brand.

    Meanwhile, the new flagship features mainly classic pieces, as well as the new mostly gold end-of-year Poussiere d’Etoiles collection. Also available is a new sporty style bag, a nod to the athleisure trend in China.

  • Kura Sushi going suburban in Taiwan

    Kura Sushi going suburban in Taiwan

    Japan’s Kura Corporation plans to octuple the number of its Kura Sushi conveyor-belt restaurants in Taiwan to 40 by 2024.

    Its present five sushi-train restaurants are mainly in urban areas, but it plans to move to the suburbs with outlets along busy streets. It plans to open five restaurants this year.

    Kura opened its first restaurant outside Japan in Taiwan in 2014. The five outlets in Taiwan are smaller than their Japanese counterparts, with up to 30 per cent fewer seats. Kura shops in Japan can seat an average of 200 diners. However, on a per-restaurant basis, the group’s Taiwan revenue almost matches that of the outlets in Japan.

    kura-sushi-taiwan

    Reservations can be made online up to two weeks in advance, with the Taiwan restaurants usually fully booked for lunch and dinner.

    With rents rising almost every year in Taiwan as land prices surge, Kura has decided to switch its expansion focus to the suburbs where long-term contracts are still possible. Kura Taiwan president Kentaro Nishikawa also says there are “many more benefits out there”.

    While the Taiwan division only broke even in its last fiscal year, it expects to turn a profit this year.

    Nishikawa says it is hard to manage restaurants that sell alcoholic beverages in Taiwan because Taiwanese usually spend little on dining out and do not drink much. He says many customers come in groups and stay for conversation long after finishing their meals.

    He says Kura will add curry rice using vinegared rice, plus other dishes to its menus in Taiwan. It will also differentiate the Taiwan restaurants from the Japan chain by offering fresh fish bought from local markets and cut in front of the customer.

    Kura also has restaurants in the US and is looking to spread to other countries.

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  • Bake Kyoto outlet features Lego counter

    Bake Kyoto outlet features Lego counter

    A counter made from monotone Lego toy building bricks is a feature of Japanese cheese-tart shop Bake  Kyoto’s new outlet.

    Tokyo-based designer Yusuke Seki uses the counter as a centrepiece of the new store to display its products. It joins other new Bake stores that feature a sunset-hued acrylic counter and bespoke aluminium tiles.

    bake-kyoto-outlet-features-lego-counter-1

    Seki says he chose to use Lego pieces as his main material “because it connects to visitors”.

    “This architectural fabric serves as the shared language of communication between those whose spoken language may differ,” he says. “Its appeal is universal, intuitive, and its attraction felt by nearly every generation. It evokes a sense of intimacy, creating a moment that connects people to this space.”

    bake-kyoto-outlet-features-lego-counter-3

    A second, complementary feature of the store is a lattice framework lining the walls on either side of the counter, reports DeZeen.com. The latticework uses a bamboo technique known as shitajimado, which is traditionally used on the windows of Japanese teahouses. Seki has put a contemporary spin on the classic technique, using a pale wood overlaid on partially exposed walls.

    bake-kyoto-outlet-features-lego-counter-8

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    “Left partially exposed, these walls allow customers to interact with a new iteration of tradition, while simultaneously encouraging an interaction with the older exterior wall cladding,” says the designer. “The store is thereby given a firm sense of place, reverberating with a reverence for the region.”

    bake-kyoto-outlet-features-lego-counter-4

    An open kitchen in the back, where the cheese tarts are baked, is another feature. A shelf on one side of the room holds stacks of Bake’s bright yellow takeaway boxes.

    Seki founded his studio in 2008, and his shop interiors are minimalist, often featuring cement and pale wood. His shops include a hand-forged knife specialist and a kimono store.

    Photos: Takumi Ota.

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