JapanForum.com - Should Japan distance herself from the U.S.?

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I think you are confused. It's when those "stupid" school girls STOP buying expensive handbags that hurts the economy and causes a recession.

Japan already has high tariffs. People in Japan are impressed I drive a Volvo because it is considered an expensive luxury car in Japan. That isn't as true in the US.

Discouraging spending is not the way to solve a recession. When foreign goods are sold in Japan, it doesn't mean that 100% of the money is flushed out of Japan. The goods are tariffed, so the government gets money. Importers and retailers (combined) take 40% to 75% of the take, so a majority of the money from that Gucci bag probably stays in Japan. I think it's time to rethink that strategy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MMM (Post 827867)

interesting numbers. I am a bet skeptical. I don't know the details of the industry so I leave the door open, but I would think brands like GUCCI distribute directly to the small retail stores not to mention the big chain department stores(why would they let a third party in?) . Anytime there is a thrid party the price goes up.

I thought the tariff on clothes bags etc.. was 10~20%? Did it change?

To answer someone else's question about what this has to do with distancing from U.S. the obvious answer is nothing directly. It is important to the economy of Japan and that is what the whole distancing from U.S. thing ultimately is about, Japanese economic future.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chiuchimu (Post 827874)

You can be skeptical if you want, but that is how it goes. A department store doesn't want to deal with 1000 different distributors, one for every brand. When you want to sell something new in Japan, (or most places, I would assume) you don't go to the store, but to a distributor. Why would they let a third party in? Because that's how business is done. Gucci has their own stores and offices in Japan, but, again, that's putting money into the Japanese economy, as well. Of all the single brand retail stores I have seen in Japan, all were hiring Japanese staff.

Theres almost always a 3rd party involved. People normally secure the rights to distribute certain brands within a country. So I would assume some enterprising Japanese entrepreneur approached Gucci to distribute their brand in Japan. I assume he and his company would be reaping it in!

Quote:

Originally Posted by chiuchimu (Post 827874)

Here's an example, a Fall 2010 Marc Jacobs bag retails for 90,000 yen at Seibu department store in Ginza. The same bag retails for $380 at the Marc Jacobs store in Boston. When you consider the difference in the currency exchange rate at the moment, the bag sells for exactly three times as much in Japan as it does in America. By all rights, with the strong yen, the bag should only cost 30,000 yen in Japan. But once you add the Japanese tariffs on such goods, and the percentages which go to the distributor and retailer, the price becomes as typically outrageous as Japanese prices on luxury goods tend to be. And yes, all this extra money stays in Japan.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chiuchimu (Post 827842)

SDF is not strong enough to find off an attack from China NK. China wouldn't even be a threat if U.S. bases weren't there.

The absolute reverse is true.

Like when the U.S. was pressuring Japan to cut relation with China after the Tienanmen Squire incident? That means U.S. is not our friend either.

Japan and China had no strong ties to cut during the Tienanmen event, so this is not true.

If Spain cuts back on Japanese imports, it doesn't cause a recession. With the U.S., it can.

Spain is currently in a much worse economic situation than America. Many Japanese products are manufactured in America, and in some cases American production of Japanese goods is greater than Japanese production. Stopping Japanese imports would not harm America in the least

I'd prefer a grass-roots movement but if not, laws need to be written. All countries write laws and have agreements about import/export to safeguard their respective economies. Put a 100% tariff on those GUCCI , louis vuitton, and Coach stuff. They make a $50 handbag and sell it for $500 and the stupid girls in Japan buy 5 ~20 each, then there's the clothing, jewelry, makeup, accessories etc... Anyone still wonders why Japan is still in a recession?

Japanese retailers make far more money off a Gucci bag than Gucci does. Retail is typically 550% of cost, in case you haven't studied retail economics, and in the case of foreign luxury goods imported to Japan, the mark-up is usually 700%, all of which stays in Japan.

That's backwards, they have aggression towards us because we side with the U.S. and provide U.S. presence in the heart of Asia. It's the same reason the U.S. has such strong feelings against a tiny country called Cuba. Cuba is a few miles from Florida and sided with the Russians. Ever heard of the Cuban missile Crisis? id you think U.S. hated Cuba just because of Castro?

America is not and has not been afraid of Cuba, America was afraid of the spread of a misguided ideology that has lead the deaths of countless millions of people. The Cuban missile crisis happened not long after Stalin's purges, and just before Chin's "Cultural Revolution". America was not wrong to fight this ideological disease and prevent it's spread.

Quote:

Originally Posted by MMM (Post 827867)

That's what I was getting at in my post. At leas that's what I meant anyways. I've seen a lot of things being sold in Japan for WAY more than they would go for in America. So I'm looking at the original post in this thread and I'm wondering how he or she justifies their list.

I think I touched on it in my last post, but the fact that most of those "expensive fashion goods" come from other countries (not the USA) contradicts the 3rd proposal on the list, which states: "Don't depend on the US market, work on markets everywhere".

It may seem strange... and it really doesn't make sense to me (although I'm not that knowledgable on the subject), but I've heard that a lot of the rice grown in Japan (in my area at least) gets exported to China. It might only have a little to do with this thread, but I'm curious about that. Does anyone know anything about that?

EDIT:

Here's some links I found on the topic:

Asia Times Online :: Japan News and Japanese Business and Economy

Japan must aim to be rice exporter: expert | Reuters

Japan Pledges Stockpiled Rice Exports of 300,000 Tons (Update2) - Bloomberg

I think those articles give some insight. I also think that if you've ever been to a super market in Japan you know that they are dealing plenty with other countries. Those articles all seemed to mention Japan's dependence on agricultural goods from other countries. I think most of that stuff comes from China, whose vegetables have extremely competative prices (like Japanese shitake will cost about twice as much as Chinese ones... and the Chinese packages will come with twice as many mushrooms). Another thing I was surprised about is that a lot of certain seafood comes from other countries as well, particularly Octupi (is that right?) from Spain and that area.

Cuban missile crisis happened in Oct. 1962' - Stalin died in 1953' ?
Cuba was ruled by a dictator Batista some called him a President, but history calls him a dictator, and military leader closely aligned with and supported by the United States.
Batista's corrupt and repressive regime systematically profited from the exploitation of Cuba's commercial interests, in partnership with U.S. corporations and the American Mafia. As a result, for three years Fidel Castro's July 26th Movement and other rebelling elements led a guerrilla uprising against Batista's regime which culminated in his eventual defeat

It's actually America that wants Japan to show more military presence in the world, and it's America that wants Japan to not export so many cars to the states. So yeah, I agree Japan needs to reduce the degree of "reliance" on the states, but I don't think that means "distancing". And in order to do so, Japan needs to take care of her own problems like the communists in schools, Korean lobbyists, bureaucratic inertia, etc.

Quote:

Originally Posted by steven (Post 827888)

It may seem strange... and it really doesn't make sense to me (although I'm not that knowledgable on the subject), but I've heard that a lot of the rice grown in Japan (in my area at least) gets exported to China. It might only have a little to do with this thread, but I'm curious about that.

They only sold 100 metric tons in China so far.
日本米が大量の売れ残り　中国、高価で消費者敬遠 - 47NEWS（よんななニュース）
The article says Japanese rice costs dozen times more than Chinese ones, so I don't think it will be a big trend.