Fashion pulse: Japan - August 2026

Consumer prices (August)

Japan's national consumer price index (CPI) rose 1.9 percent year-on-year in August 2026, unchanged from July, according to Japan's Statistics Bureau. Excluding fresh food, prices rose 1.7 percent, after 1.8 percent in July. Clothing and footwear prices rose 1.5 percent YoY, up from 1.2 percent in July, and remained below headline inflation.

Within the category, clothing prices rose 2.0 percent YoY and footwear prices 1.1 percent, while shirts and sweaters rose 0.7 percent, according to the Statistics Bureau. In the 23 wards of Tokyo, clothing and footwear prices rose 1.4 percent YoY in August, down from 1.7 percent in July.

Retail sales (August, preliminary)

Sales at textile, apparel and accessories stores fell 6.1 percent YoY to 520 billion yen in August, according to preliminary data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). This was the twelfth consecutive month of year-on-year decline for the category. Total retail sales rose 2.7 percent YoY to 13.05 trillion yen, while non-store retail sales rose 3.0 percent.

Department store sales rose 2.6 percent YoY in August on a store-adjusted basis, the eighth consecutive monthly increase, according to preliminary figures from the Japan Department Stores Association (JDSA). Clothing sales at department stores totalled 98.2 billion yen, up 0.8 percent on a store-adjusted basis, with menswear down 0.8 percent, womenswear down 0.1 percent and childrenswear up 4.2 percent. Sales of personal accessories rose 2.0 percent, while art, jewellery and precious metals rose 12.8 percent.

Duty-free sales to overseas visitors at department stores totalled 46.1 billion yen, up 4.6 percent YoY on a store-adjusted basis, although the number of duty-free customers fell 9.5 percent, according to JDSA. JDSA said demand for high-priced goods among overseas shoppers remained firm against the backdrop of the weak yen. Domestic department store sales rose 2.4 percent.

Tourism (August, preliminary)

Japan received 3,098,900 international visitors in August, down 9.6 percent YoY, according to preliminary estimates from the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO). Arrivals from China fell 59.0 percent to 418,000, while arrivals from South Korea rose 28.7 percent to 850,500 and from Taiwan 7.3 percent to 666,000.

Macro context (August)

The Cabinet Office's consumer confidence index rose 0.6 points to 35.5 in August, seasonally adjusted, its highest reading since February. The unadjusted share of households expecting prices to rise a year ahead fell to 89.0 percent from 92.8 percent in July. Japan's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 2.5 percent in August, according to the Statistics Bureau.

Monetary policy and currency (August)

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) left the policy rate unchanged at around 1.0 percent in August. The dollar averaged 158.81 yen in August, down from 162.45 yen in July, according to the BOJ, a 2.3 percent rise in the value of the yen. Compared with August 2025, when the dollar averaged 147.64 yen, the yen was 7.0 percent weaker, raising the yen cost of dollar-invoiced imports.

The bottom line

Japanese clothing and footwear prices rose 1.5 percent YoY in August, below headline inflation of 1.9 percent. Preliminary METI data show sales at textile, apparel and accessories stores down 6.1 percent, while department store clothing sales rose 0.8 percent. Consumer confidence improved to 35.5, while preliminary JNTO data show visitor arrivals down 9.6 percent, with arrivals from China down 59.0 percent.

Note: this article combines the most recent official data available at the time of writing. Reporting lags differ by indicator and country, so not all figures refer to the same month. Each data point is labelled with its reference period.