UNIQLO: The 'Nihonjinron' 日本人論 Equation

Uniqlo is valued at $ 9.6 billion.[1] Here’s how they tied the Japaneseness ‘nihonjinron’ concept, cultural trends, and modern management to create a global juggernaut with the following key ideas: 

• The Gap’s casual clothing specialty-store

• The moral philosophy of retail management and production

• The ‘Japaneseness’ concept

• High-quality but affordable clothing for all

• The 1990s Japan asset bubble’s impact on Uniqlo

• The intersection of globalization and culture in Japanese identity

1. Peter Drucker on modern management. In 1949, Uniqlo was founded as a family-owned men’s tailoring and transitioned to a unisex casual wear store. After Tadashi Yanai inherited the company, his management philosophy is inspired by consultant Peter Drucker’s business thought–”modernist leadership by institutional management to benefit all society.”[2] 

2. Microtrends and macrotrends. The 'shun'  [旬] signifies the importance of timing and current microtrends, influencing specific aspects of culture. Uniqlo embodies 'shun' in their basic clothing line, innovating lifewear as a form of 'art' and 'design' with a distinctness of Japanese culture.[3] Additionally, 'kino-bi' [機能美] is evident in Uniqlo's functional organization, where lifewear is structured with a blend of rationality and beauty, representing a broader aspect of modern Japanese culture in a global lens.[4]

3. Quality and affordability. Uniqlo innovates ‘high-quality at reasonable prices’ by producing materials that allows them ‘to scale at reduced costs’[5]. Uniqlo’s focus on quality and affordability weaves itself into a demand for ‘functional products’ in retail allowing consumers to create a ‘flexible lifestyle in demand’[6]. 

4. Ecosystems. Uniqlo positions their business in a wider ecosystem and adapts to changes in global society by focusing on interdependence and collaboration through outsourcing, production, technology, and also the consideration of social and cultural factors that impact its overall operations[7]. 

On identity.    

1. Initially, when first strategizing the guiding identity of your business model, you look for inspiration from other successful ones in a similar field (e.g. Uniqlo mimicking the Gap’s store strategy). But eventually, discover that copying a similar strategy will prevent you from discovering a unique brand identity. 

2. How do you define a brand identity? By looking at the space/s your business occupies, (e.g. where is your shop positioned? A mall? A historic building? A digital platform?) Drawing inspiration from this spatial area helps shape the elements that embody and define the identity for your brand. Moreover, brand identity is shaped by the perceptions it creates from its surroundings to present itself against its competitors. 

Generation Gap

The Gap is known for its casual and comfortable clothing by offering classic and timeless pieces ensuring that it resonates with evolving fashion trends and lifestyles. Its name is derivative of the term ‘generational gap’ whereby different opinions and values resonate with different generations due to evolving innovations in culture, fashion, art, or technology.[8] Currently, its core demographics for its target market consists of a broader age range from “Generation Z, Generation X, or Millennials for its online store” showing its casual wear are suitable for different generations[9].

In 2016, The Gap published an advertising campaign, ‘Generation Gap: 90s Icons Now’ featuring “the celebrity children of Demi Moore, Diana Ross, Mick Jagger and more” as their parents had once modeled for its brand campaigns in the past[10]. The Generation Gap campaign’s core insight is how its brand resonates with different generations by showcasing how the Gap resonates with celebrity parents and their celebrity children; it serves a broader demographic range with focus on their timeless classic pieces. The classic clothing wear describes the timelessness of its pieces and its core idea resembles what Uniqlo tried to create; timeless clothing centered on basic everyday lifewear. 

Philosophy of Retail Management

Tadashi Yanai succeeded his father’s men’s clothing shop, “Men Shop OS” and sought a new philosophy of management for the family business[11]. Yanai sought theoretical concepts to apply his management principles from Peter Drucker’s idea of “a business existing purpose is to create a customer”[12]. Yanai practices the management theory of creating a customer by ensuring their products are designed for what the customers want over what they think should sell.[13] Uniqlo’s management philosophy is to transform an individual into a paying customer and it is fulfilled only by maintaining their attention[14].

UNIQLO designs its clothing with a focus on modern lifestyles, seamlessly blending current trends, practicality, and innovation. Here’s how the brand adopts a set of retail strategies and store layouts that embody the principles of “nihonjinron” 日本人論 in cultural aesthetics. 

A clothing store opens across the block, how do individuals decide to walk-in and exit with a purchase? 

Shopping for clothing is a decision-making process to realize one’s identity. A piece of clothing is an expression of oneself through personal styles–e.g., gorpcore, maximalist, or a coastal grandmother. 

We look at clothing as tied to the kind of lifestyle we practice or even aim to realize with a sort of ‘aesthetic’ to our self-perception.   

Here, we will explore the use of self-expression in the context of cultural identity in articles of clothing in the case of the Japanese-owned global brand, Uniqlo, and how they apply a sort of ‘Japaneseness’ to their lifewear. 

“Japaneseness”

In Japan, the term “nihonjinron” 日本人論 is used as a form of discourse that distinguishes and established Japanese cultural identity from the rest of the world. 

The ‘Japanesenesss’ concept or ‘nihonjinron’ in the lens of Uniqlo is an examination of cultural nationalism and Japanese values represented in lifewear aesthetics. Sociologists viewed nihonjinron as an idea to portray the “conformity” or normativity of identity wherein “being Japanese” is a singular experience remaining unchanged from cultural history until modern present times.[15] In a sense, any individualistic notion of oneself should be recognized with the association of a Japanese national within their own culture and not shaped by “external, non-Japanese sources”[16]. In other words, Japaneseness means conforming to a singular identity of being uniquely and exclusively Japanese without outsider influence. 

The term Japaneseness in Uniqlo is used by Kino-bi [機能美] meaning: 

“function and beauty, joined together: the clothing is presented in an organized, rational manner, and that very organization and rationality creates an artistic pattern and rhythm. All these qualities reflect the defining characteristics of modern Japanese culture, modern ‘Japaneseness.’ – Nobuo, Domae, CEO, Uniqlo USA (April, 2007)[17].

Made in Japan

Uniqlo represents the ‘nihonjinron’ concept in modern Japanese culture by placing emphasis on aesthetics through quality clothing and functionality. The Japaneseness in Uniqlo is the mass market production of lifewear which reinforces the cultural narratives around Japanese identity–the certain branding of “made in Japan” contextualizes the associations of quality and precision from Japanese products which links the belief that they provide a cultural essence or attention to detail by seamlessly aligning with global trends through retail innovation.

Unisex Lifewear

In 1984, Uniqlo began to design and sell ‘unisex casual wear’ derivative of the term ‘unique clothing’ and naming its store as ‘Unique Clothing Warehouse.’[18] Its key idea is to design clothes that fit for all.  

Stores and other stores

Retail stores often use a sort of layout whether it is Aesop’s laboratory-style, Le-Labo’s apothecary boutiques, or MUJI’s simple storage setup that are reflective of the guiding principles of their organizational ecosystem. The stores are built of a certain adherence to the characteristics of a unique identity to separate itself from its competitors. 

The Lost Two Decades

In its early years, Uniqlo’s store retail models can be described as a take on casual clothing chains such as Gap’s strategy for its product concepts and merchandise voluming with the key term; ‘speciality-store/retailer of private-label apparel’ (SPA).[19] In essence, UNIQLO is directly responsible for the production process by sourcing raw materials for its design elements including fabrics, colors, or style and the distribution of its products to the end consumers or stores.[20] However, the manufacturing aspect of the clothing wear is outsourced to Chinese factories with cheaper labor and a lower cost of goods during the recession in the late 1990s.[21]

The Japanese asset price bubble in the 1990s brought Uniqlo to take new steps ‘to redesign its logo and store layout.’[22] Its store concepts were imitated from the Gap’s core design and operational strategy which lacked authenticity.[23] The bubble economy saw an increase in asset prices [real estate properties or stocks] caused by the easier access to credit and the false speculation that its markets will experience exponential growth. The asset prices bursted causing a deflation in Japan known as the period of the “Lost Two Decades” after the economic downturn.     

The bubble economy led to Uniqlo to refine its core philosophy: retailing high-quality apparel at a reasonable price after the financial burst within the Japanese economy.[24] Uniqlo created clothing pieces that resonated with the economic insight: the financial downturn caused consumers to spend less, affecting their lifestyle choices. Our shopping habits are often correlated with the lifestyle we consume. The core insight of the Uniqlo consumer during the bubble burst; spending less does not mean we lower the quality of our life and so, it centered the key philosophy of providing lifewear clothing used daily. It centers itself on everyday lifewear used for function and affordability while maintaining the Japaneseness idea of quality by focusing on basics that is uniquely tied to the Japanese identity and culture of ‘conformity’ in modern society while considering the urban environment of the individual when in its modes of material production. 

¹ Consumer Goods & FMCG. (April 2022). “Uniqlo: brand value worldwide from 2016 to 2022.” Statista. 

² Naoko Fujimura & Shunichi Ozasa. (December 11, 2019). “Japan’s richest man revisits lessons by Peter Drucker.” The Seattle Times.  

​​³ Hyde, Katherine (26 April 2007). "Uniqlo: From Tokyo to New York to Global Brand". Japan Society.

​​⁴ Ibid. 

⁵ Fast Retailing. (2022). “Uniqlo, Driving Clothing Innovation.” Uniqlo. 

⁶ Ibid. 

⁷ Ibid. 

⁸ Kevin Calero. (Feb 2017). “Gap: Generation Gap by Gap.” Creative Works. 

⁹ Ibid. 

¹⁰ Ibid. 

¹¹ 1949-2003 | FAST RETAILING CO., LTD". Fast Retailing. 

¹² Whitney Hess. (August 13, 2012). “The Purpose of a Business is to Create a Customer.” Pleasure & Pain. 

¹³ Ibid. 

¹⁴ The Drucker Institute. (December 9, 2010). “Finding Drucker–and Fast.” The Drucker Institute. 

¹⁵ Peter N. Dale. (1986). Introduction. 

¹⁶ Ibid. 

¹⁷ Hyde, Katherine (26 April 2007). "Uniqlo: From Tokyo to New York to Global Brand". Japan Society.

¹⁸ White, Gillian B. (13 March 2019). "Why Urban Millennials Love Uniqlo". The Atlantic.

¹⁹ Fast Retailing. (February 07, 2011.). “Uniqlo Business Strategy.” Uniqlo. 

²⁰ Ibid. 

²¹ Nagata, Kazuaki. (17 November 2009). "Choice, chic, cheap — no one feels fleeced". The Japan Times. p. 3.

²²  James Hall. (6 October 2019). “Uniqlo: The name change that built a $30 billion fashion empire. New Zealand Herald. 

²³ Ibid. 

²⁴ Nagata, Kazuaki. (17 November 2009). "Choice, chic, cheap — no one feels fleeced". The Japan Times.