HNWIs in Japan

The Analysis is dominated by populist depictions of social strata and groups that demand a lot of media attention. But to understand the changes, we have to look into a detailed consumer group analysis as well as major trends that are predominantly not covered in western press releases.
While the Japanese themselves are trying to make sense of the new business environment, one development seems to be clear, that the market has changed, that those who dont seem to change fast enough and try to adopt seem to get into difficulties or just face the threat of suffering major losses in the future. Not only the market has changed, other markets appear, where the money lies, where opportunities are waiting to be discovered not only by Japanese companies but also by foreign ones.
The buzz-words that are most common in marketing literature include the New Luxury movement and a trend toward lifestyle consumption, a global trend that gained wide coverage by books like trading-up and mass affluence as well as marketing groups like the Boston Consulting Group and otrher Luxury market research groups. While the trend in America may have slightly different underpinnings, the basic structure of the amassed welath is the same in Japan, with baby boomers facing retirement and young business people changing the face of being rich and the attitues toward luxury.
Limiting HNWIs in Japan to one segment is not explaining the complexity of the issue. A company has a product portfolio that does not make profit by catering solely to HNWIs. Limiting services to a part of the rich is a strategy, but for companies who offer consulting to other companies catering to the rich. A company catering to the premium market does not have the “luxury” of simplification.