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We had exhibited at the 26th International Jewelry Kobe (IJK2022) held at Kobe International Exhibition Hall, for 3days from 05/26/2022 to 05/28/2022．From the beginning of the year, the world economy has finally seen some hope in the situation of the Corona disaster, but this situation has changed dramatically when Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24th.
As a result of Russia’s invasion to Ukraine, Western countries imposed extremely severe economic sanctions on Russia in the areas of finance and energy, the stability of international politics, security, and the world economy was fundamentally collapsed．Due to economic sanctions against Russia, crude oil prices and European gas prices have soared, and the international energy market has become extremely unstable．
In finance, the invasion to Ukraine has plunged the economy into crisis mode, and spurring a downward trend in stock prices worldwide．Also in U．S． stocks, which had been doing very well last year, fell more than 20％ with the outbreak of the war． In addition to crude oil and food, inflation factors such as logistical confusion and the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes have pushed long-term interest rates to the highest level in about three years, and headwinds to stock prices are not disappear easily in the future．
The foreign exchange market has also changed drastically, and the dollar has continued to rise due to dollar buying for interest rate selectivity and for safe heaven in an emergency． On the other hand, currencies such as yen which has been experiencing low growth due to low interest rates, euro which are vulnerable to the blows of war, and emerging country’s currency have fallen significantly．Although Russian default concerns were temporarily resolved with a dollar-denominated government bond interest payment on March 16, but there are new concerns that a further outbreak of Russia’s debt problems could lead to an uncontrollable global financial crisis．
Global inflation concerns have become clearer since last spring under the economic policies of countries around the world in response to the COVID-19 pandemic．However, inflation is accelerating as rising fossil fuels due to decarbonization, rising food prices due to climate change, and massive U．S． fiscal spending generate strong demand that exceeds supply．
As a result of the invasion to Ukraine, energy prices have risen further due to sanctions on Russia imposed by Western countries; logistics have halted due to the blockade of major ports and causing grain and freight prices to soar．Furthermore shortages of renewable energy such as nickel, aluminum, copper, and palladium, which have a large share of Russian exports, as well as non-ferrous metals used in electric vehicles, have raised market prices, and these are increasing fears of recession．
Price escalation and a recession in the U．S． might trigger stagflation in countries with strong economic stagnation, such as Japan and Europe．In China as well, estate, there are concerns about an economic stall due to the unrealistic policy of the Zero Corona policy, in addition to the slump in real estate． Now we have the triple distress of infectious diseases, geopolitics and inflation, and the situation have changed．
From now on, if the war causes economic recession, high prices of goods, unemployment or social disparity due to the worsening plight of the general populace caused by declining wages progresses, it might bring dissatisfaction to the party politics in the absence of the people grow and lead to a coup or other unforeseen events． I think that it will also be important how we deal with the increasingly unstable international environment．
This year’s jewelry show was held under these circumstances, but it was much busier than last year with more visitors than expected． I felt that the change in people’s psychology due to the normalization of the corona disaster, and the removal of many regulations was returning people to their pre-corona routines．However, I also felt that the Corona disaster has changed the way jewelry shows are organized．
Although the show was crowded with many visitors, the member had changed dramatically from previous years． It is mainly social buyers from China and the Philippines, and the number of retail and wholesale buyers in Japan seems to have decreased drastically．This appears to be due to the fact that the customer base of the Japanese market is aging and that sales are declining due to the use of traditional sales methods with little change．
Most of the Japanese visitors to this year’s show were jewelry sellers who used digital sales methods or those who came to the show because they like jewelry but have not been able to find something that suits their tastes．It seemed to me that Japanese salespeople have become stuck in a rut and are losing customers
Era has changed dramatically． With the spread of smartphones and the growth of social media, it has become easy to visualize the diverse ecosystems that exist through SNS and web services on the two-dimensional screens of smartphones and PCs, known as Web 2．0． However, this digital evolution has not stopped, and the internet is becoming three-dimensional, combining the three advances of computer performance, communication speed, and 3DCG technology．
By the time so-called Generation Z who is digital native born from the mid-1990s to the end of the 2000s become the center of society, the world of WEB3.0 including the Metaverse will become common． Our industry is also required to respond to the evolution of technology from now on so as not to be left behind by this change．
Through the digitization that we are currently working on, we are now able to introduce our products to our regular customers little by little． We will continue to develop this system to make it easier, more convenient, and smoother． I hope that we will be able to overcome these difficult times together without falling behind the pace of change．
Thanks to all the regulars and newcomers to this jewelry show, our booth had become a lively place． And, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to everyone who came this time． Thank you very much．
