Yano Research Institute Ltd.

23/09/2026

Press Release:
"Hair Salon and Barbershop Market Decreased by 1% Year-over-Year to 2.10 Trillion Yen in FY2025"
[Hair Salon and Barbershop Market in Japan: Key Research Findings 2026]

< Market Overview >
Hair salon and barbershop market in Japan is estimated to reach 2.10 trillion yen in FY2025 (99.0% of the previous fiscal year), indicating a year-over-year decline for the first time since FY2020. Neither the barber shop segment nor the hair salon segment achieved a year-over-year growth. Based on the financial results of the 49 operators surveyed, growth was concentrated among the highest-ranking companies, with merely eight achieving a growth exceeding 5%. A notable number of operators saw year-over-year declines, especially those with revenues around 1 to 2 billion yen.

The rise in service prices between the fall of 2022 and 2023 reflected growing utility, labor, and cosmetic costs. Although the immediate impact on customer sentiment was minimal, recent studies indicate that a growing number of salons and barbers are now experiencing a drop in customer visits and longer intervals between appointments. As consumers cut back on hair care spending—often switching to budget salons or quick-cut shops—the number of barbershops is declining due to closures, and there are fewer new hair salon openings. While existing salons struggle with customer acquisition, higher average spending per visit continues to support overall market size. According to the survey of hair care product manufacturers and dealers*, a key driver of the hair cosmetics market in FY2025 was the rising price of products sold both through salons and barbershops, as well as products sold to these establishments. Looking ahead, further service price revisions are expected to play a crucial role in shaping future market growth.

Full Texts of the Release:
https://www.yanoresearch.com/en/press-release/show/press_id/4150

22/09/2026

Press Release:
"Linen Rental Services Market Grew 3.6% Year-over-Year to 538,800 Million Yen in FY2025"
[Linen Rental Services Market in Japan: Key Research Findings 2026]

< Market Overview >
Linen rental services provide linen products to hotels, hospitals, restaurants, amusement facilities, offices, and factories. The Japan’s linen rental services market in FY2025 grew by 3.6% from the previous fiscal year to attain 538,800 million yen (based on the sales of linen rentals). The market achieved growth for five consecutive years. Market growth was primarily driven by hospitality linen, fueled by an influx of inbound tourists following the containment of the pandemic.

Full Texts of the Release:
https://www.yanoresearch.com/en/press-release/show/press_id/4160

21/09/2026

Press Release:
"Fiscal 2023 Uniform Rental Services Market Expanded Slightly by 0.3% YoY"
[Uniform Rental Services Market in Japan: Key Research Findings 2026]

< Market Overview >
The uniform rental service market size in FY2025 showed marginal growth at 0.3% growth year-over-year to 93,800 million yen, based on the uniform rental companies’ sales.

Market volatility was high over the past several years. Driven by rising demand associated with the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics and the growth of inbound tourism, market conditions remained generally favorable until FY2020, when the outbreak of COVID-19 significantly disrupted the market. However, as economic activity normalized beginning in FY2022, the market demonstrated resilience, achieving gradual growth for four consecutive fiscal years.

Full Texts of the Release:
https://www.yanoresearch.com/en/press-release/show/press_id/4161

17/09/2026

This Week's Focus: September 7, 2026
[August 29 Marks the Anniversary of Japan’s Act on Protection of Cultural Properties: Reflections on the Cool Japan Fund’s Setbacks]

Cool Japan Fund Inc., a public-private fund established to contribute to the sustainable growth of Japan’s economy by expanding overseas demand for products and services rooted in Japanese lifestyles and culture, was launched in 2013 under the second administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. It has now reached a decisive crossroads over whether it can continue to operate.
As of the end of March 2026, its cumulative investment totaled ¥158.8 billion. Investments that had been exited generated losses of ¥5.5 billion on an invested amount of ¥59.9 billion, while ongoing investments were subject to impairment losses of ¥25.8 billion on an invested amount of ¥98.9 billion.
Including the Fund’s operating expenses, cumulative losses reached ¥54.0 billion. The Fund therefore failed to meet the “minimum investment performance target” established in 2022, which projected cumulative losses of ¥42.6 billion. The government has consequently decided not to request funding for the Fund under the Fiscal Investment and Loan Program for fiscal 2027.
The failure was caused by a combination of factors, and there is little reason at this stage to be surprised by the Cool Japan Fund’s setbacks. Almost as though it had anticipated this outcome, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), which oversees the Fund, established a new Study Group on Entertainment and Creative Industries Policy in 2024. In June 2025, it formulated a “Five-Year Action Plan toward ¥20 Trillion in Overseas Sales for the Content Industry.” Then, on August 20, 2026, amid reports that the Cool Japan Fund was to be abolished, METI announced its “Entertainment and Creative Industries Strategy 2026.”
The policy objective is to achieve ¥20 trillion in overseas sales by 2033. To this end, the government intends to bring together the collective expertise of the public and private sectors, consolidate budget implementation, and realize large-scale, long-term and strategic public-private investment. In implementing the strategy, it has also declared its determination to “continuously verify the effectiveness of policies and see them through responsibly until they produce results.” This suggests an ambition to redeem the government’s defeat with the Cool Japan Fund.
(Section omitted for brevity)

Read the full article:
https://www.yanoresearch.com/hirameki/772

17/09/2026

Press Release:
"New Rental Housing Starts Will Likely Decline to 219,300 Units by FY2040, a 29.0% Decrease from FY2025"
[Rental Housing Market in Japan: Key Research Findings 2026]

< Market Overview >
Based on new rental housing starts, the rental housing market was valued at 308,906 units in FY2025. This was 86.5% of the market's size in the previous fiscal year.

Due to continuously high construction costs combined with rising interest rates, the profitability of rental housing investments has deteriorated, which has seemingly reduced the new rental housing starts.

Rural areas are experiencing rising vacancy rates, while urban areas with rising rents have limited rental residences that can be profitably rented out due to rising construction and borrowing costs.

Full Texts of the Release:
https://www.yanoresearch.com/en/press-release/show/press_id/4139

　

16/09/2026

Press Release:
"Japan’s Watch Market Remain Robust in 2025"
[Watch Market in Japan: Key Research Findings 2026]

< Market Overview >
According to the Japan Clock & Watch Association, the domestic watch market in 2025 was 98.6% of the previous year at 1.2919 trillion yen, based on the retail price amount. Despite reduced demand from Chinese tourists visiting Japan, the market remained at the one-trillion-yen level for another year.

Demand in the domestic watch market remains stable, especially for high-end segment. Growing interest in mechanical watches, limited editions, and watches as investment assets has shifted competition from price to value, prompting manufacturers to strengthen their premium brands and broaden their upscale product portfolios.

However, the market is approaching a turning point. As relentless price hikes cool domestic consumption and inbound shopping trends shift, growth is likely to slow unless manufacturers elevate their brand image and continuously develop high-value-added products.

Full Texts of the Release:
https://www.yanoresearch.com/en/press-release/show/press_id/4147

16/09/2026

Press Release:
"Cosmetics Contract Manufacturing Market Reached 367.5 Billion Yen in FY2025, a 3.6% Year-Over-Year Increase"
[Cosmetics Contract Manufacturing Market in Japan: Key Research Findings 2026]

< Market Overview >
Based on the sales from businesses, the domestic cosmetics contract manufacturing market reached 367.5 billion yen in FY2025, marking a 3.6% increase from the previous fiscal year.

The market gained momentum at the beginning of the fiscal year, receiving prospective orders from clients for new releases and product renovations. However, store sales were slower than expected due to consumers' cautious spending habits stemming from increased commodity prices. The growth of mail-order and ecommerce businesses, the increased distribution of South Korean and other overseas products, and diverse customer needs have led to the diversification of sales channels and products. This trend has prompted cosmetics manufacturers and retailers to carefully plan orders from the perspective of proper inventory management, aiming to avoid excess inventory caused by discrepancies in actual cosmetics demand. Consequently, contract manufacturers received multiple small- to medium-size lot orders. Overall, therefore, sales based on volume were slow. Meanwhile, these manufacturers have negotiated prices with clients, because they faced multiple cost-increasing factors, such as rising prices of materials, logistics, and labor. As these rising costs were passed on to selling prices, the vendor-sales-based market size surpassed that of the previous year.

Full Texts of the Release:
https://www.yanoresearch.com/en/press-release/show/press_id/4156

14/09/2026

Press Release:
"Market Size for Character Business Is Predicted to Increase by 3.0％ YoY to 2.9635 Trillion Yen"
[Character Business in Japan: Key Research Findings 2026]

< Market Overview >
The character business market, which consists of merchandising rights and copyrights, reached 2.8767 trillion yen in FY2025, marking a 3.2% increase from the previous fiscal year.

This growth was driven by the increased exposure of certain characters through their anniversary-year campaigns. These campaigns strengthened ties with their existing fans and raised awareness among new fans through social media dissemination. Additionally, characters and items that were popular during the period between the late 1990s and early 2000s returned to the spotlight, driven by people who were elementary school students at the time. This trend fueled demand for merchandise featuring characters from that period and worked as a tailwind for the market.

Full Texts of the Release:
https://www.yanoresearch.com/en/press-release/show/press_id/4146

Yano Research Institute (the President, Takashi Mizukoshi) conducted a survey on the character business market in Japan. The survey revealed the market size by segment, market trends by character, and future outlook.

09/09/2026

This Week's Focus: Aug. 31, 2026
[April-June GDP: Third Consecutive Quarter of Growth, Yet Consumer Spending Remains a Challenge]
On August 17, the Cabinet Office released preliminary figures for gross domestic product (GDP) for the April–June quarter. Real GDP grew 0.3% quarter-on-quarter, or 1.1% on an annualized basis, while nominal GDP grew 1.2% quarter-on-quarter, or 4.8% on an annualized basis. In monetary terms, real GDP totaled 598 trillion yen, compared with 688 trillion yen for nominal GDP. While noting that “Attention should be given to the effects caused from the situation in the Middle East,” the government nevertheless expressed the view that “the Japanese economy is recovering at a moderate pace,” following three consecutive quarters of positive growth.
(Section omitted for brevity)
This spring, wage growth remained strong at both large and small-to-medium-sized companies. In fact, according to the Monthly Labor Survey (June preliminary report), total cash earnings rose 3.4% year-on-year, while the Family Income and Expenditure Survey showed that income among workers’ households (two-or-more-person households, for June) increased by 3.9% in nominal terms and 2.0% in real terms. However, consumer spending fell by 1.5% in nominal terms and 3.3% in real terms, marking the seventh consecutive month of year-on-year decline in real terms. Rising prices, higher social insurance premiums, and rising mortgage rates are all increasing the sense of financial strain among the “working-age generation.” Furthermore, as their “parent generation” relies on pensions, its purchasing power is also being effectively eroded by the macroeconomic slide mechanism. These factors will naturally lead to more restrained consumption across all generations.
Meanwhile, the Nikkei Stock Average hit a record high, official land prices rose for the fifth consecutive year, and the average summer bonuses at large companies, as compiled by Keidanren (Japan Business Federation,) exceeded 1 million yen for the first time (based on 163 companies across 22 industries with 500 or more employees). This certainly looks like a booming economy. Then where is the prosperity when it comes to personal consumption, which remains sluggish?
This summer, I read The Trading Game (by Gary Stevenson, translated by Toshio Chiba, Hayakawa Publishing Corp.), which recounts the dramatic life story of “Gary,” a top trader at Citibank. The book contains the following points: The wealth of ordinary, hardworking families flows to the rich. The poorer the middle class and the government become, the richer the wealthy get. The answer is inequality. “It was not temporary. It was terminal. It was the end of the economy. It was cancer.” Gary bet on this growing inequality and made a fortune.

Read the full article:
https://www.yanoresearch.com/hirameki/771

08/09/2026

Press Release:
"Segment Trends Within the Digital Contents Market in Japan"
[Digital Content Market in Japan: Key Research Findings 2026]

< Summary of Research Findings >
In this report, the digital content market refers to the online ecosystem for creating, distributing, and monetizing digital media and services, spanning digital entertainment (video, music, and gaming), digital publishing, social media, online advertising, and NFTs (blockchain-based assets).

Traditionally, digital content platformers competed to establish market leadership through the development and advancement of generative AI (GenAI). Today, however, the focus is shifting toward identifying the optimal combination of GenAI-powered offerings across the entire customer journey. This includes the awareness and consideration stages, where consumers search for and compare options, as well as the purchase and post-purchase stages, where they select, consume (view), and pay for content. By enhancing convenience and creating a seamless user experience throughout this journey, platforms aim to deepen customer engagement and lock consumers into their broader business ecosystems.

Market Trends by Segment:
- Social Media Integration: Social media platforms have firmly established themselves as critical channels for consumer and brand communication.
- Expansion of Media Streaming and Digital Advertising: The online advertising, video streaming, and music streaming segments continue to secure robust and consistent expansion.
- Comic Books Driving Digital Publishing: The e-book market is predominantly propelled by the high demand for digital comic books.
- Hardware Synergy in Online Gaming: Market dynamics in online gaming remain closely tied to hardware (console) market cycles.
- Shift in NFT Demands toward Utility: The primary motivation for purchasing NFTs has transitioned from speculative trading to practical utility and real-world application.

Full Texts of the Release:
https://www.yanoresearch.com/en/press-release/show/press_id/4128