Check out the latest and most popular in Japan through Nikkei Trendy’s Top 30 hit products ranking in 2024!

Display of Nikkei Trendy’s top 30 hit products for 2024

It’s the time of the year again when Nikkei Trendy releases a top 30 ranking of the hit products in Japan for the year i.e. between October of the previous year and September of the current year based on three aspects:

• Sales — how much did the sales figure or market share increased
• Novelty — whether it featured revolutionary or ground-breaking technology, perspectives or marketing techniques
• Influence — whether it is a market leading product, created a new market segment, changed lifestyles or societal norms and the kind of impact it had

This ranking is a good indicator of what’s hot and in-demand in Japan so if you are looking for some inspiration to get the most fashionable or sought-after products and services during your trip there or simply wish to know what was popular in the country over the past year, read on to know more about the top 5 in the 2024 ranking!

№5: Detective Conan: The Million-dollar Pentagram

Poster of the movie “Meitantei Conan: Hyakumandoru no Michishirube”

Fans of the Detective Conan series would probably know about or have already watched this movie titled “Detective Conan: The Million-dollar Pentagram” (Meitantei Conan: Hyakumandoru no Michishirube / 名探偵コナン100万ドルの五稜星) which makes it the 27th installment in the long-running Detective Conan animation movie series. As a reflection of the series’ strong popularity, this movie which was released in cinemas on 12 April 2024, easily cleared the 100 million cinema visitors milestone in merely 18 days. While other popular titles like “Doraemon” and “Godzilla” boast of similar achievements, this movie became the fastest in history to hit this number. In addition, it surpassed the JPY 10 billion box office takings mark on 4 May — 2 days faster than the preceding installment in the movie series. By the time it passed the JPY 15 billion mark on 23 Jun, it became the 10th Japanese movie in history to do so.

The movie eventually ended its run with JPY 15.71 billion in total box office takings thus cementing its position as the №1 movie in 2024 and the 14th bestselling movie in Japanese cinema history. Considering that only two Japanese movies managed to clear the JPY 10 billion mark this year and that this movie had a comfortable margin over its closest competitor “Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle” (Gekijouban Haikyuu!! Gomisuteba no kessen / 劇場版ハイキュー!! ゴミ捨て場の決戦) which got JPY 11.55 billion yen in the box office, it is no wonder that this movie was selected to be one of the hit products for this year.

№4: VT’s Reedle S beauty serum series

VT’s Reedle S beauty serum series

The Reedle S beauty serum series from South Korean cosmetics brand VT was the only skincare product featured in this year’s ranking. Boasting of CICA and natural microneedles as its key ingredients, this product was marketed as something you could apply to your face and achieve the same effect as if beauty needles were administered. Effects touted by the company include bringing out the original strength of the skin, delivering the beauty contents to the stratum corneum through promotion of skin penetration and improve the effects of your make-up through an improved skin condition.

While it has been said that you might feel some discomfort when using the product at first, it is supposed to be a sign of the serum achieving its intended effect through the microneedles. Over time, this feeling will slowly go away or be unnoticeable once the skin is accustomed to the stimulation according to user reviews. And since there are 6 variations containing different amounts of the microneedles for all skin types, this could be why the product managed to attract so many customers going by the fact that 3.87 million bottles were sold in Japan alone since its launch in 2023!

№3: V Point

The merger of the V Point and T-Point systems in spring 2024

On 22 April 2024, V Point from Sumitomo-Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) and SMBC Card and T-Point from Culture Convenience Club were merged to form the new V Point system. This would then allow its 86 million active users to earn points from their purchases, both offline and online at over 18,000 shops of designated merchants including 7-Eleven, Lawson, Sukiya, MacDonald’s, Saizeriya, Doutor Coffee, TSUTAYA, Kinokuniya, Welcia, Family Mart and ENEOS as well as at VISA member merchants. The points earned can be used in a variety of ways such as offsetting purchases, depositing the points into savings accounts or using them for investments.

At present, there are other domestic competitors in what is dubbed as the “points economic circle” (ポイント経済圏) industry i.e. Rakuten, Ponta, d and PayPay which come with their distinctive traits. However, these points system networks are mostly tied to specific mobile services carriers thus those who are also subscribers to those companies would tend to get better benefits compared to other users. In addition, it can be difficult for consumers to maximize their benefits across multiple points systems with different usage requirements.

On the other hand, the V Point system is not tied to mobile services carriers thus anyone can use this system with ease at many merchants. The rebate percentage can range from 7% to as much as 20% for those who also use SMBC’s cards or banking services through its integrated financial service Olive. The merger of the points systems also has a spillover effect as seen from the number of Olive accounts increasing by 1 million from February to July 2024 thus bringing its total customer base to over 3 million.

№2: The Ohtani Shohei economic effect

Those familiar with baseball would definitely know about Ohtani Shohei, a Japanese professional baseball player who is currently playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball which won the World Series title this year. He is also the first in the MLB history to achieve the 50–50 milestone i.e. 50 total bases-50 stolen bases in a single season (final count for the year was 54 total bases-59 stolen bases).

Due to his immense popularity both in Japan and beyond, it is estimated that this has brought about an estimated economic impact of more than JPY 116.8 billion this year through sales of official merchandise, products and services which he endorses in commercials as well as items he uses on a personal basis. For example, the commemorative T-shirt to mark his 50–50 FIRST ONE IN MLB achievement this year sold an incredible 30,000 pieces in Japan alone just 4 days after its launch. Ohtani was also in the top 10 celebrities ranking for the most CM deals in 2024 thanks to his appearances in commercials for 11 domestic brands such as Kose, Konami Digital Entertainment, New Balance Japan, Japan Airlines and Seiko Watch. As such, you will literally see him everywhere in various advertisements when you are in Japan these days.

№1: New NISA and Orukan investments

First of all, NISA stands for Nippon Individual Savings Account which is an investment account for Japanese citizens to enjoy tax-exempt benefits on their investment income. It was said to be modelled after the UK’s ISA (Individual Savings Account). This initiative allows Japanese citizens to get tax-free investment returns through their NISA accounts as compared to other forms of investments which would be imposed with a tax rate of 20.315%. The scheme was first launched in 2014 in a bid to encourage people to save for their retirements using investments.

There were 2 types of NISA accounts i.e. the general NISA (一般NISA) and the tsumitate i.e. savings NISA (つみたてNISA). The former was primarily for mutual funds and long-term investments but the latter launched later in 2018 was for domestic and foreign equities, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and real-estate investment trusts (REITS). The investment limit per general NISA account in a year was set at JPY 1.2 million and investments up to JPY 6 million for the entire account would get tax-free treatment for 5 years. As for the savings NISA account, the annual investment limit was set at JPY400,000 with the tax-free scheme applied to JPY 8 million’ worth of investments for 20 years. There was also a Junior NISA (ジュニアNISA) account launched in 2016 for parents and guardians to save on behalf of those who were below 20 years old.

In January 2024, the NISA scheme was revamped thus allowing the tax-free period to be extended indefinitely and the investment limits on an annual and total account basis to be raised. This is seen as a bid to encourage Japanese households to shift their savings into investments. Anyone who is 18 and above and lives in Japan can have their own NISA account and invest up to JPY 3.6 million per year for tax-free returns. Thanks to these changes, Japan is now seeing a heightened interest in investments especially from first-time investors.

With the increased popularity of NISA, this has brought about a corresponding interest in what’s called Orukan (オルカン). This is actually the short-form for all-country (オール・カントリー) and refers to the investment trust fund named eMAXIS Slim Zensekai kabushiki (eMAXIS Slim 全世界株式). Being managed by Mitsubishi-UFJ Asset Management, this is linked to the MSCI All Country World Index and allows investors to purchase equities worldwide including in Japan, developed and emerging economies. Its relatively low custodian fee at no more than 0.05775% per annum, wide exposure to a variety of equities and ease of entry are said to be attractive to NISA investors who have a medium and/or long-term investment horizon. In just 9 months since the revamped NISA scheme kicked off this year, the fund is estimated to have received new investments amounting to about JPY 1.8 trillion.

If you are keen to know about the other hit products and services in 2024, be sure to check out the rest of the Nikkei Trendy ranking here!