Hankyu to the metrosexual: Yurakucho

store caters to the needs of men

- Dominic Carter

(This article first appeared in the January, 2012 issue of The ACCJ Journal)

G

iven that the market for luxury in Japan has

been shrinking in recent years, Hankyu’s

decision to double down by opening a luxury

emporium exclusively for men seems like a bold one.

Giving a new meaning to the word “metrosexual,” the

Hankyu Men’s store is located in Yurakucho, adjacent to

the glitzy Ginza shopping district. With a range of over

350 brands that reads like an A-Z of global fashion, the

store comprises nine levels devoted to super-premium

apparel as well as male beauty and grooming.

The ritzy men’s department store targeted at shoppers

in their late twenties to forties follows a successful 2008

Hankyu Men’s launch in Osaka, and appears to emulate

the trailblazing and successful Isetan Men’s store in

Shinjuku, Tokyo.

Until now, demand for luxury branded goods in Japan

has been based on the strong cultural need to signify

membership of a “respectable” group in society. There