Chinese Passions for Japanese Diapers (for Adults and Babies)

choi

Leo Lewis, Rationing Hits Japan’s Nappy Trade as Chinese Demand Soars; The tourists and parallel importers jostling for high-end diaper. Financial Times, January 7, 2016 2:05 pm
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/579de2 ... 8-9a82b43f6b2f.html

Quote:

There is currently "an Asian nappy market with annual sales of about $12bn, forecast by CLSA to reach $45bn by 2030."

"Nappy rationing [in Japan], now in force for more than a year, sits strangely in a country with one of the lowest birth-rates in the world.

" Demand for Merries is driven by China’s rising clamour for Japanese quality in all things worn, ingested or rubbed on to the skin. Another propellant has been the depreciation of the Japanese currency since 2013: Chinese tourists, along with parallel exporters, quickly spotted that it is cheaper to get a box of Merries in Shizuoka than in Shanghai.

Note:
(a) Adult diapers are used for seniors with incontinence 失禁 of urine and/ or feces.
(b) parallel import
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_import

(c) "shops in Tokyo’s Ginza district * * * two tourists from Chengdu * * * one grabs the largest box of Merries, the other a box of Goo.N * * * The popularity of Merries, produced by Japan’s Kao Corp"
(i) Kao
(A) Headquartered in Tokyo, Ka-ō Corporation 花王株式会社 was established in 1887 by Tomirō NAGASE 長瀬 富郎.
(B) The "ka" and "ō" are Chinese pronunciations of kanji 花 and 王, respectively.
(C) Kao Group History. Kao Corp, undated
www.kao.com/jp/en/corp_about/history.html
("The corporate name, 'Kao,' originated with the name of the first product, Kao Sekken 花王石鹸 quality toilet soap")
(D) Japanese Engl;ish dictionary:
* sekken 石鹸(P); 石けん 【せっけん】 (n): "soap"
(ii) "Goo.N diapers are manufactured by Daio Paper Corporation."

Though he en.wikipedia.org does not have a page for it, in a page for disambiguation of "daio" the Wikipedia does have a one-sentence description: "Daio Paper, Japan's third largest paper company."

Dai-ō Paper Corp  大王製紙株式会社 (1943- (by merging a dozen small paper-making companies); based in Tokyo)

(d) Japan’s Zuiko is "the world’s largest producer of nappy-making machines."

Zui-kō Co, Ltd  株式会社 瑞光 (1946- ; based in Osaka)