If you think the U.S. remodeling market is hot, consider what’s happening in Japan–and, if you’re a manufacturer, how you could get a piece of the action.
Expenditures on remodeling are forecast to double by 2020 from 2012, hitting 12 trillion yen ($105 billion), according to the Japan Journal of Remodeling, that country’s version of REMODELING magazine. Two years ago, I got a first-hand look at the Japanese market by serving as the featured speaker for a U.S.-based trade mission to the country. You might remember the blog I wrote about the visit. One of the venues where I spoke was the Builders & Remodelers Show, held in Tokyo every summer and sponsored by the Journal of Remodeling.
Recently, two representatives of the show came to Nashville, Tenn., for our Remodeling | Deck | Journal of Light Construction convention. Chrys Kikuchi and Daisuke Nakamura traveled to America seeking exhibitors for the next Builders & Remodelers Show, to be held July 17-18 at Tokyo Big Sight, a massive exhibition hall in the capital city.
The 2018 version of the show is expected to draw roughly 27,000 visitors and 400 exhibitors. Kikuchi–a Japanese native fluent in English, by dint of years spent in Colorado–told me the builders should regard the Tokyo show not only as a well to sell in Japan but also to gain entry into all of Asia.
Craig Webb
Typical small booth at the Japan Builders & Remodeling Show, Tokyo, 2015
“If the product is good enough for the Japanese market, we think it will be good enough for all of Asia,” he said.
Historically, Japan has focused extremely heavily on new home construction, preferring tear-downs and reconstruction to remodeling. But Kikuchi and Nakamura said 8 million of the nation’s 55 million homes are vacant now, while at the same time the nation’s population is shrinking, so there’s less need to build new and a much greater need to fix up houses. In addition, the country has set tough energy consumption standards for both new and renovated housing, so opportunities in that sector are particularly strong.
A support group called the International Building Materials Forum can provide information on exhibit costs as well as provide assistance with translating handouts, training a company’s staff members on how to sell at a Japanese trade show, and finding local Japanese to staff the booth.
If you’re interested, write to Kikuchi at IBMF.office@gmail.com.