Rika Fujioka

Kansai University
Osaka

Rika Fujioka is Professor in Retail Marketing at Kansai University, Japan. She is a council member of Business History Society of Japan and also a council member of Japan Society of Marketing and Distribution. While her academic base lies in marketing, Rika’s research activities have extended into business and economic history and strategic management. She is a principal investigator of a project on ‘Changing Competitiveness of Japanese Retailers and Fashion Industry under the Globalisation’, and is engaged in a project on ‘Competitive Advantage of Regions: Europe and East Asia in Comparative Studies on Industries’. Both projects are supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).

Abstract

Competitiveness of the Japanese denim and jeans industry: the cases of Kaihara and Japan Blue, 1970-2015

The two cases, Kaihara and Japan Blue, perfectly fit in a comparative historical study on Japanese premium denim and jeans. On the one hand, it shows that producing denim is a different story and needs a different strategy than producing jeans. On the other, the two stories are also closely related because of a certain interdependence of the two industries – Kaihara, for example, dyes Japan Blue’s woven cotton. So an in-depth historical analysis of the two cases will give us good insight into the development of the historical competiveness of Japan’s denim and jeans manufacturing in the last 45 years. Our main question is: how did Japanese denim and jeans companies became leading and competitive firms and survived so far in a highly competitive global industry which constantly relocates manufacturing to low cost countries?

Rika Fujioka will speak alongside Ben Wubs, Erasmus University Rotterdam.