Japanese manufacturers and retailers are increasingly targeting big-spending Chinese visitors, with many recently shifting their focus from group tours to independent travelers.
While Chinese group tours are known in Japan for bakugai (explosive buying) of Japanese goods, particularly electronics and cosmetics, a growing number of independent travelers from mainland China are purchasing products in bulk to take home from their travels.
A man in his 30s from Shanghai recently purchased ¥20,000 ($180) worth of eye drops, stockings and cosmetics on behalf of his friends at variety retail operator Don Quijote Co.'s store in Tokyo's Shinjuku shopping district. He asked a sales clerk about the differences between two kinds of eye cream.