WSJ.com

Japan blushes with success

The Japanese cosmetics business provides a preview of a better Japanese economy.

By Kenji Govaers and Hiroshi Makioka

Published on December 22, 2010
min read


This article originally appeared on WSJ.com (may require subscription). Japan's sluggish economy has puzzled Japanese and foreigners alike for a decade or more. How is it that a country that was until recently the world's second-largest economy, and boasts first-world levels of income, can be so mired in low growth and low productivity at home? Yet Japan's marketplace isn't a monolith, and some industries do show glimpses of what a better Japanese economy would look like. The cosmetics business is a case in point. Read the full article here (may require subscription).

This article originally appeared on WSJ.com (may require subscription).

Japan's sluggish economy has puzzled Japanese and foreigners alike for a decade or more. How is it that a country that was until recently the world's second-largest economy, and boasts first-world levels of income, can be so mired in low growth and low productivity at home? Yet Japan's marketplace isn't a monolith, and some industries do show glimpses of what a better Japanese economy would look like. The cosmetics business is a case in point.

Read the full article here (may require subscription).