Japan Market Reports
The best research on the Japanese market is free — but most of it is only in Japanese. Here are ten reports every company planning to enter Japan should know, summarised in English, with a link to each original.
Selection: free reports published in the last two years by Japanese government bodies, JETRO and leading Japanese research institutes, chosen for what a UK, European or US company needs before entering Japan.
What foreign companies in Japan say: JETRO's FY2025 business survey
An English summary of JETRO's FY2025 survey of 1,520 foreign-affiliated companies in Japan: why they stay, what holds them back, and how European and North American firms now see the market.
JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) · February 2026 Read the summary → 02 — Investment — FDI trendsForeign investment into Japan hits a record: JETRO Invest Japan Report 2025
Summary of JETRO's Invest Japan Report 2025: inward FDI stock at a record ¥53.3 trillion, the UK as Japan's second-largest investor, the sectors attracting money and the government's new ¥120 trillion target.
JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization) · September 2025 (data for calendar year 2024) Read the summary → 03 — Consumers — ValuesHow Japanese consumers think now: NRI's survey of 10,000 people
English summary of Nomura Research Institute's 10th Survey of 10,000 Japanese Consumers: the move away from bargain-hunting, the spending power of 'oshikatsu' fandom, and slow uptake of generative AI.
Nomura Research Institute (NRI) · January 2025 (news release); full report 31 January 2025 Read the summary → 04 — Consumers — Long-term trendsThirty years of Japanese lifestyles in one free dataset: Hakuhodo's Seikatsu Teiten
Hakuhodo Institute of Life and Living's Seikatsu Teiten tracks Japanese attitudes and habits from 1992 onwards. What the 2024 results show about post-COVID Japan, and how to use the free data.
Hakuhodo Institute of Life and Living (博報堂生活総合研究所) · 17 October 2024 (latest results) Read the summary → 05 — Demographics — AgeingJapan's ageing society in numbers: the 2025 White Paper
Summary of the Japanese government's Annual Report on the Ageing Society 2025: 29.3% of the population is 65 or over, 16.8% is 75 or over, and older people are working longer — the facts behind Japan's senior market.
Cabinet Office, Government of Japan · June 2025 (figures as at 1 October 2024) Read the summary → 06 — E-commerce — Market sizeJapan's e-commerce market: the government's annual survey (METI)
English summary of METI's e-commerce market survey: Japan's B2C e-commerce market reached ¥26.1 trillion, but only 9.8% of retail goods are sold online — plus cross-border figures for the US and China.
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) · 26 August 2025 (data for 2024) Read the summary → 07 — Digital — AI and internet useHow Japan uses AI and the internet: the 2026 Information and Communications White Paper
Summary of Japan's 2026 White Paper on Information and Communications: generative AI use jumped to 58.8% of people, over 90% of 15–19-year-olds, and 86.4% of companies — with international comparisons against the US, Germany and China.
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) · July 2026 Read the summary → 08 — Regulation — Consumer protectionDigital selling and consumer trust in Japan: the 2026 Consumer Affairs White Paper
Summary of Japan's 2026 White Paper on Consumer Affairs, focused on digital and AI-driven selling: over half of consumers feel uneasy about online ads, and about 20% who subscribed via social media had trouble cancelling.
Consumer Affairs Agency (消費者庁) · June 2026 Read the summary → 09 — Sustainability — ConsumersDo Japanese consumers buy green? The 2025 Consumer Affairs White Paper
Summary of the 2025 White Paper on Consumer Affairs, focused on green consumption: about 80% of Japanese consumers care about the environment, but only 10–30% buy green products — mainly because they cannot tell which products are genuinely green.
Consumer Affairs Agency (消費者庁) · 2025 Read the summary → 10 — Tourism — InboundRecord inbound spending in Japan: the 2025 Inbound Consumption Survey
Summary of the Japan Tourism Agency's 2025 inbound consumption figures: 42.68 million visitors spent a record ¥9.45 trillion, with UK and German visitors among the highest spenders per head.
Japan Tourism Agency (観光庁) · Preliminary January 2026; final figures and annual report later in 2026 Read the summary →This is an independent summary by Japan Business Insider. Figures are taken from the original publication; the interpretation in “Our reading” is our own. Please check the original before quoting figures.
Planning to launch in Japan?
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