The Country That Loved Brands — The Story of Japan, a Gold Mine

Last time we followed the story of the LVMH empire that Bernard Arnault built: the invention of the conglomerate, expansion through acquisition, and his skill in bringing the logic of capital into the world of craftsmen. Yet the fuel that grew that empire did not lie within the ateliers of Paris. It lay in an island nation to the east, nine thousand kilometers away.

From the latter half of the twentieth century into the twenty-first, Japan was, for the world’s luxury brands, nothing less than a gold mine. It is sometimes said that, relative to its population, no country bought brands as eagerly. Why did the Japanese have their hearts so captured by bags and clothes that crossed the sea to reach them? In this chapter, we trace the dense relationship between luxury and Asia, following the historical record.

Why Was Japan the First Step in the Overseas Return?

The story begins in an unexpected place. Through the Second World War, the stores of ‘Louis Vuitton,’ which had spread around the world, are said to have shrunk after the war to just two shops within France, in Paris and Nice. The land that this same company chose as its first step in returning overseas was, in fact, Japan.

In 1978, Louis Vuitton arrived in Japan. It opened sales floors one after another inside department stores in Tokyo and Osaka, and in 1981 it established its first directly operated store in Japan, in Ginza. Behind this, it is said, lay the fact that the brand’s popularity in Japan had been rising even earlier, and that price gouging by importers had become a problem. In other words, the Japanese had already fallen in love with this brand before the stores even arrived.

The Frenzy of the Bubble — An Age of Brands for All

In the latter half of the 1980s, Japan reached the peak of its bubble economy. It was an era when land and stock prices soared and society as a whole was wrapped in a sense of elation. Within this heat, luxury spread explosively.

Bags from ‘Louis Vuitton’ and ‘Chanel,’ once the preserve of a wealthy few, came to be carried even by young office workers and students. Overseas travel grew familiar, and the sight of Japanese tourists buying in bulk at the flagship stores in Paris became the stuff of legend even there. A single product longed for and owned by many of the nation’s people — for the world’s brands, no market sold so efficiently.

Why such a frenzy? The reasons are not single. The mood of an age that wished to feel its own wealth, a national character that prizes quality, and a tendency — as some see it — to value harmony with those around one and to choose ‘what everyone agrees is good.’ A culture of using good things long and with care, and a psychology that seeks the reassurance of being like others. Both of these, it is thought, supported the affection for prestigious brands.

Yet this frenzy had its shadow. It cannot be denied that a longing born originally from respect for craftsmanship and history turned, in part, into a competition to own a symbol, the logo. The scene of ‘everyone and their grandmother carrying the same bag’ also had the effect of obscuring the individuality and story that brands had originally possessed.

The Gold Mine Moves — From Japan to China

When the bubble burst and a long era of recession set in, the way people faced brands also changed. From blind ownership toward a mature consumption: choosing what one truly loves, using it long, and sometimes letting it go on the secondhand market. Japan remained important to luxury, yet it ceased to be a market that grew explosively.

Taking its place as the lead role in growth was China. A new wealthy class and middle class, born of economic growth, began — like Japan of old — to seek genuine brands. According to one report, in the several years from 2017 China’s luxury market expanded greatly, growing to a scale that now sways the performance of vast groups like LVMH. It is a form in which China has inherited, on a still larger scale, the role Japan once played.

There is an intriguing resemblance in this transition. A society grown rapidly wealthy seeks brands with history as proof of the genuine article. Then, as the market matures, values shift from a competition of ownership toward a choice that is one’s own. The road Japan traced over several decades, China seems to be racing through in a shorter span. In this way, the empire of luxury has ridden, one after another, the waves of Asia’s prosperity.

Even so, that road too is not smooth. According to reports by the BBC and others, in recent years a movement has been seen in which Chinese consumers hold back from costly purchases, and in 2024 sales in the Asia region (excluding Japan) are reported to have fallen sharply year on year. On the other hand, signs of recovery have since been reported, and the market’s ups and downs continue.

From Japan to China. The movement of the gold mine tells of how luxury has walked together with the prosperity of Asia. The empire in Paris that guards the craftsman’s skill has been sustained by longing from across the sea. That fact quietly teaches us that the value of a brand is shaped not only by those who make it, but also by the hearts of those who love it.