We're pleased to announce that Cecil John Howell has joined FirstPoint Japan's Advisory Board.

Cecil has over 10 years of experience in Japan-Asia related HR (11 years Recruiting, 6 years Talent Management, 3 years in training and development and 2 years HR/GA) and heads one of the leading Fashion Boutique recruiting firms in Japan which focuses on all levels of staffing for retail fashion companies: Store & Back Office, Executive & Asia Pacific level.

He holds an Executive MBA with a focus on Human Resources from Chapman University and Bachelors from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in International Business with Minors in Music, Asian Studies and Computer Science. He  also holds Japanese and Chinese language certificates form Nanzan University and the Beijing Language and Culture University respectively.

• What happening the Japan Fashion Industry?
  
• What are the biggest trends?
  
• What is shifts are seen in luxury goods versus fast fashion & the middle brands?
  
• What does the Japanese domestic market look like?
  
• Who are the major players?
  
• What are the opportunities for market entry and new company stores?
  
• How difficult is it to find talent, what are the options?
  
• How to select a recruiter/recruiting firm for your hiring needs in this industry?
  
• What about talent pools, pipelines and community?
  

Join us as we talk with Fashion Industry Cecil John Howell who counts many of the world's top brands including LVMH, Gap, Gucci Group, Amazon, Jimmy Choo's, Forever 21, Zara , Walmart and others among his many clients.

With no CG, no invisible wires, and even no magical powers to rely on, a photo posted on Twitter by a 16-year-old high school girl in Japan has gained worldwide attention for its “Matrix”-like special effect, with more than 20,000 re-tweeting to date.

Posted under the username “Chanman,” the picture shows a half-crouching girl with her arms and legs outstretched as if she is casting a spell. Surrounding her are 10 girls jumping in the air and spreading their arms, appearing to be blown away by an invisible force.

When Chanman added the caption, “Makanko-sappo” (a lethal finger beam technique appearing in the famous “Dragon Ball” manga series), the number of views sharply increased.

Chanman and her classmates took the photo to commemorate the end of the school year.

Inspired by Chanman’s Makanko-sappo, similar postings have been growing in number.

Twitter user “Chara” posted a photo looking like “Hadouken,” a special “wave fist” attack used by characters of the popular video game “Street Fighter.”

In Shinzo Abe’s Japan, diamond rings and logo handbags will cost more -- to buy and to sell.

Tiffany & Co. (TIF) and Harry Winston stores will follow Louis Vuitton in raising some prices to offset the yen’s 11 percent slide since Prime Minister Abe took office Dec. 26 with a promise to tame the currency’s strength and revive Japan’s exporters.

The increases, including the biggest ever at Vuitton Japan, may curb demand in the second-biggest market for personal luxury goods. Brands that don’t have Vuitton’s star wattage face a decision: Boosting prices may dent sales, while leaving them unchanged will cut millions of dollars out of profit.

“People who can afford to pay 500,000 yen ($5,200) for a Bulgari watch won’t care if the price is raised to 520,000 yen,” said Mikihiko Yamato, deputy head of research for JI Asia inTokyo. “But if a lower-end brand bag had a price hike of, say, 5,000 yen, some people might give up on buying it.” The Roman jeweler is one of about 60 brands owned by Paris-based LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA (MC), the world’s biggest luxury goods maker.

Japan’s economy has been mired in deflation for the last 15 years, prompting luxury goods makers to divert their attention to emerging markets offering rapid growth, such as China. Still, close to 10 percent of all personal luxury goods sold in the world were taken home by Japan’s shoppers in 2012, according to consultancy Bain & Co. Sales rose 8 percent to about 20 billion euros ($26 billion) last year and were little changed in yen terms, according to the consultancy.

“Japan is still a very profitable region,” said Erwan Rambourg, a Hong Kong-based consumer analyst with HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA). “Staff costs and rents are not increasing much whilst sales productivity in Tokyo is still very high.”

Thanks to the effects of Abenomics, the Nikkei Stock Average has surged by more than 20 percent since late last year, while the yen has weakened against the dollar and the euro nearly 20 percent. The mood is on a pretty strong uptrend.

In fact, the positive impact of Abenomics has already been seen in the sales of luxury goods, such as watches and jewelry, which analysts say would directly be reflected in the Nikkei index.

However, it will be quite a long time ahead when such a trend becomes clearly apparent in the overall consumer activities.

Furthermore, it is noticeable that some luxury brands of clothes and leather items—which did not reduce prices to pass on the benefits of the strong yen to their customers—are now increasing prices. For example, Louis Vuitton on Feb. 15 hiked prices by 12 percent on average.

So, how big is the retail market size for luxury goods in Japan?

It is actually difficult to grab the concrete picture of the market in this field because luxury goods companies in general do not release sales breakdown by countries or brands they own even though they are listed on the stock exchanges.

Plus, the recent currency volatility has widened price divergence in yen-, euro- and dollar-based figures. In addition to this, the definition of luxury brands remains obscure.

In the field of pret-a-porter, or ready-to-wear clothing, and fashion and leather goods, brands names, such as Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Hermes, Chanel, Prada, Miu Miu, Fendi, Salvatore Ferragamo, Dior, Bottega Veneta, Loewe, Celine, Yves Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Chloe, Valentino, Versace, Givanchy, Jil Sander, Bally and Tod’s are understandably included in the genre. In this column, these brands are categorized as top-tier luxury brands.

However, there are some problems. For instance, supposing Burberry, Armani and Ralph Lauren are not top-tier luxury brands, what are they? (They can often be categorized as high apparel brands and designer brands.) Then what about Coach, Furla and Longchamp? Are they also included in the top-tier group? (These brands do not have a strict policy of manufacturing their items in their home countries, such as France and Italy, and are usually categorized as accessible luxury and rough luxury.)

In jewelry, the three major names—Cartier, Tiffany & Co. and Bulgari—and Grand Cinq in Paris (Van Cleef & Arpels, Boucheron, Mauboussin, Chaumet, Mellerio dits Meller), as well as Harry Winston, Graff and Gump’s, which also have a high profile like the eight brands, are definitely treated as luxury brands. They are followed by more brands, which may not claim a high profile like the names above, but offer equally high-quality goods.

In this article, all these brands are treated as luxury brands. Regarding watches, the same approach is applied.

Taking it into consideration, the size of the luxury goods market in Japan is estimated to be around 2 trillion yen in total—1 trillion yen for fashion and leather goods and 1 trillion yen for cosmetics, wine & spirits, watches and jewelry among other items.

According to the report compiled by Bain & Company, a Boson-based research and consulting firm, the size of the global luxury goods market is 19.1 million euros in 2011, or 22.92 trillion yen (1 euro = 120 yen).

Japan claims about 10 percent of the entire market, making its market size roughly about 2 trillion yen. Bain & Company’s report also reveals an interesting fact in the breakdown by nationality of the 19.1 million euro market.

Chinese consumers account for 23 percent of the market, followed by Americans at 22 percent and Japanese at 20 percent.

If you believe these figures in the report, Chinese spend most on luxury goods in the world, while Japanese spend almost equal amount on European and American luxury items at home and abroad.

Many European luxury brands did not reduce prices of their products in the Japanese market until the exchange rate became 170 yen to the euro. This probably resulted in the rapid increase in Japanese buying luxury items overseas.