As I walked through the narrow alley in Kichijoji, I was amazed by the small number of stores squeezed in a bundle. I walked haphazardly with no definite route or sense of pace. I peered into the different food places and noticed interesting things hanging down or placed outside.
Mak and Sunder explores the back and forth race of the government to protect the privately owned stores while at the same time recognizing the advantage of the larger departmental stores to the economy. Although Mak and Sunder’s article opens with a question as to why there are so many small stores in Japan, they are really deciphering the question of as to why these smaller stores are disappearing. Mak and Sunder responds to the question with “children and grandchildren…[having] no interest in taking over the family store.” and mobility to a larger stores becoming easier. Larger companies challenge the smaller retailers with cheaper prices such as Coca-Cola that sells at 39 yen. The main theme revolves around the disappearance of privately owned stores amidst the laws passed to protect them over the larger departmental stores that favor cheaper consumer prices and also import goods.
The article by Mak and Sunder notes that many stores in Japan are small and people consume smaller quantities. They make constant comparison to America in terms of the consumption style and also the mobility of people to purchase goods. They mention that “Japan has over twice as many retail stores per thousand population” compared to the United States. However, the fate of those smaller privately owned stores soon alters as big discount chain stores creeps in various places with an aim to reduce consumer prices and provide faster and varying degrees of services. The smallness of stores in general explains the lifestyle of Japanese families, such as “buying in smaller quantities” and consumption of “fresh food…which are especially important constituents of the Japanese diet.” The dependence on public transport and walking makes it more feasible for the existence of these smaller stores “built near train and subway stations.”
There is also much to say about the laws passed by the government. The laws try to curb the number of larger department stores but with little success. The emergence of foreign markets such as Toy “R” Us and Coca Cola has been exceptions to the law. Japan agreed to deregulate the “country’s distribution system.” This speaks much about the flaw of any government as to assuming that one particular step would curb a problem, but later realizing that indeed that one step can shake many other grounds and disturbs the intrinsic web in the society.
I am brought back to thinking about the little alley in Kichijoji, which stands as a symbol of going against the “modern ways” and still surviving. I realized that the modern markets aim for homogeneity and give a sense of familiarity as it succeeds to produce multiple chains of the brand in different locations such as 7-Eleven. However, one aspect of the many smaller privately owned stores that cannot be overcome is the interesting individuality and almost artistic element of it which cannot be mass produced. As I paced down the alley, I noticed a great big duck outside of a bar. I wondered why it was present there and yet it presented as such a scene that I found it comforting somehow. I was feeling very much part of every store I passed due to the closeness to those stores physically and the interesting individuality of that bundle. The markets will continue to grow and expand and those departmental stores will also begin to expand in various places, however, my only hope is that, there is some sort of co-existence between the two. And in some form, the little alley in Kichijoji represented that co-existence and I only hope that it further grows and feeds off each other instead of rubbing against one another.
The great big duck in front of a bar in the little alley in Kichijoji
