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JAPAN: Fair Trade Concept Starts to Sell

Suvendrini Kakuchi

TOKYO, Feb 28 2007 (IPS) - When Sonoko Iwasa, started her tiny shop selling ‘fair trade’ goods in Mitaka, a decade ago, she was in for a long struggle to survive in a wealthy, traditional neighbourhood which had little understanding of global issues, let alone marginalised communities in the developing South.

”The concept of using trade to equalise the world by buying goods from developing countries from Asia and Africa was a notion that had no connection with the everyday lives of the people in Mitaka,’’ said Iwasa, a homemaker. Mitaka falls outside metropolitan Tokyo.

Today, however, Iwasa and her partner at ‘Rumaba Goods’ (Rumaba means Beautiful House in Indonesian), says the days when she had to spend at least half an hour explaining the merits of fair trade to people who dropped by, are over.

‘’As people became interested in the goods, they began to get curious about their producers. In Japan, the fair trade message is based heavily on how good the product is – different from the idea of patronising goods as support, which is more entrenched in the West,’’ she explained.

Indeed, her shop that sells, among others, organic chocolates from Africa, woollen gloves and hats produced by women’s groups in rural Nepal as well as elegant clothes by poor communities in Thailand, has now gained the reputation of being both fashionable and fair, which she says is the key to survive in Japan.

This month, Iwasa moved into a well-patronised shopping street in the area thanks to a bustling trade that has allowed the two plucky owners to make ends meet finally.

As Iwasa’s experience illustrates fair trade goods have begun to inch into the lucrative domestic market that is marked by the Japanese penchant for things trendy.

“Japan is well-known for its insatiable appetite for luxury Western brand products rather than cheaper ethnic counterparts linked to charity. Naturally, fair trade goods cannot be separated from this deeply entrenched national trait,” explained Prof. Masahashi Ohashi who started ‘Shaplaneer,’ another leader in a fair trade goods business in Japan.

While there is no national estimate on the Japan’s fair trade business, private shops report sales at the high end between an impressive 6 to 7 million US dollars annually, but still insignificant compared to conventional trade.

According to marketing records, more than 94 percent of Tokyo women in their 20s owned something from French luxury brand Louis Vuitton and 51 percent from Chanel.

Yet, as Michiko Ono, spokeswoman for People’s Tree, one of Japan’s best known labels in the fair trade market, points out that there is a growing interest in it in Japan – a trend that is catching on among younger generation who are interested in improving society.

‘’There is a deep desire among the Japanese, especially among the youth, to preserve the environment, work for a fair society and get to know the world better. This has created a growing interest in fair trade goods which are seen as delivering this message,’’ said Ono, who has worked in non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

One of the best known fair trade labels is People’s Tree, the brand name for goods sold by Global Village, a company launched in 1995 by the British-born Safia Minney.

Global Village is viewed as a pioneer in fair trade in Japan. The organisation campaigned vigorously in the 1990s to spread the message of paying a fair price for producers in developing countries towards helping them to improve their techniques and form the basis for future independence.

In keeping with the need to develop unique goods for the fashion-yearning Japanese consumer, the company now markets more than 1,500 products that are sold to both wholesale and retail shops.

Yuki Akamastu, spokeswoman for Alta Trade Company, another fair trade company, aggres that fair trade is finally gaining a niche in Japan but also points to ongoing hurdles such as the influx of cheaply priced goods from China.

“Most Japanese are not interested in making sacrifices to change the world and we have to work hard to lure them,’’ she explained. Her company sells organic bananas imported from poor farming villages on conflict-torn Mindanao island in the Philippines.