MOSCOW, Oct 30 (News On Japan) –
Since the invasion of Ukraine and the ensuing wave of overseas enterprise withdrawals from Russia, merchandise mimicking Japanese imports have been showing in larger numbers throughout the nation.
In a Moscow grocery store, beer cans with labels studying “EBOSHI” in giant letters sit on the cabinets. Beneath illustrations of samurai clad in kabuto and armor, the product’s label proclaims in English “Japanese-Style Beer” and, in Japanese, “First Recipe.” The design carefully resembles fashionable Japanese beer manufacturers.
Products with Japanese-style branding lengthen past drinks. Washing detergents labeled with kanji characters for “purity” and engine oil branded “Koyama” additionally line the cabinets. However, the packaging and descriptions usually function barely awkward Japanese textual content.
Why are so many objects evoking Japan showing in Russian shops? Hattori, a professor from Hokkaido University, feedback on this pattern: “Amid international sanctions and limited consumer options, many Russians consider Japanese goods superior. Adopting a Japanese brand image seems to project high quality.”
Even with a decline in imports from Japan, “Japanese brands” proceed to be extremely fashionable, extending past meals and family merchandise.
In one store with an indication studying “YAMAGUCHI,” varied high-end therapeutic massage chairs are marketed, with retailer employees claiming they’re Japanese-made. The retailer inside even consists of Japanese dolls, seemingly to underscore the Japanese aesthetic.
An attire retailer known as “Just Close,” which beforehand housed a serious Japanese clothes model earlier than the Ukraine invasion, now has a emblem and inside design that carefully resemble its predecessor.
Hattori provides, “Despite the ongoing war, the Putin administration aims to maintain a narrative that everyday life for ordinary citizens remains unaffected. This brand imagery may contribute to sustaining that myth.”
Source: ANN