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We had exhibited at 23rd International Jewelry Kobe, held at Kobe International Exhibition Hall for 3 days from 16/05/2019 to 18/05/2019．
In Japan, by the throne of the new Emperor on May 1st, new era “Reiwa” had started. Then, the celebration mood has been spreading among government, companies and individuals． Unlike the voluntary restraint mood at when the era name had been changed to Heisei, the city shows a bustling atmosphere．And, it is expected that events will continue at retail sites in each industry and consumption will be activated. I hope that new era brings festive market price and become the vitality of the economy．
However, different from Showa which was growth era, Heisei era after the economic bubble basted, people were bounded with the past success experience, became stagnant by no effective solutions, economy had been down turned, employment and salary had been declined．Then, it brought a low birthrate society．This would accelerate further low birthrate and aging of the population in Japan. And, I think that it would cause further deterioration of Japan’s international status and financial deterioration. The declining birthrate and aging population are beginning to affect our industry. Majority of people who buy high-priced products at retail sites are older people, and their ages are gradually rising till an age when these products are no longer needed for them．In addition, retail stores are starting to go out of business or bankruptcy due to a lack of successors or poor performance.
This trend will be more and more serious．Japan’s industry has climbed up to the peak period and then fallen sharply, in the order of its post-war reconstruction; followed by coal, textile, steel, shipbuilding, finance, electric industry, and it is said automobile, newspaper and media industry comes next. Even such a large industry would eventually decline. Our industry is much smaller, and it seems that this trend cannot be avoided．However, our industry would not disappear; each industry has changed its shape and has survived．
I have now realized that one era is coming to an end and beginning another, in our industry. Although sales have been shrinking every year at jewelry retailers, the market price for jewelry products is on the rise rather than declining．This phenomenon is being caused by the demand in overseas and the market entry by different industry which is not specialized in jewelry in Japan. These companies are larger than jewelry specialists, and are making large profits by quick turnover through inbound, SNS retail, wholesale, import and export. Based on the philosophy that customers gather at places where products are collected, these companies are sweeping the industry with large-scale financial power in M & A and so on．
In the jewelry auctions, many items are gathered at places where many strong buyers attend, and even if the price becomes higher than the market price, desirable items are traded there. This trend will accelerate in the future and change the shape of our industry．
Just before the jewelry show in Kobe this time, the US administration announced to impose an additional 25％ tariff on all imports from China on the 13th．In response, China State Council announced to raise the tariff rate to 25％ for the US products worth $60 million. Then, it made trade war between the US and China over tariff had intensified, the global economy increasingly unsettled, and stock depreciation spread to the global market. Furthermore, many exhibitors held pre-sales to buyers from overseas before the show．All of the above reasons caused the number of foreign buyer decreased significantly since the first day of the exhibition． Also, it seemed that the foreign buyers who came to the event had used up their budget and had little willingness to buy at the exhibition．
However, conversely, it seemed that Japanese buyers had come more than usual at this jewelry show．Many people said that they had reduced ordinary purchases to the minimum and waited, so that they could choose what they need from large amount of exhibits at this jewelry show． With such a factor, many visitors came to our booth without interruption from the first day of the exhibition to the end． Many people said that if the economy is poor but nice products are available, then sales would increase．And they were seriously looked for bargain items, and it brought this jewelry show a lively atmosphere． We had received a variety of requests, what they would like to purchase in the future, from many buyers at this show and found our future challenges．
Because our industry is bounded with the past success experiences, it seems too old-fashioned．The reason is that the most of the proposed products are the same as before, and they are not attractive anymore． Most of the people are looking for something new. And, we will strive very hard every day to give you new ideas and a good motivation to come to our booth in the future. We would like give our sincere gratitude to you all, and are looking forward to seeing you again at our booth．
