Hi,
When I use the word keiretsu, I use it loosely since I’m sure these major corporations or companies may not exactly be defined as a “keiretsu”, but you pretty much get what I’m saying.
I was wondering how much influence and power, as well as if they are as prominent and prevalent today as they were back then, these keiretsus have.
I ask because I am a foreign (US) business retailing consumer goods and often buy Japanese products, but my USA distributor does not have access to certain Japanese products. I have been looking for legitimate suppliers in japan for a long time and have contacted nearly 100 businesses in Japan including JETRO, but it feels impossible to find distributors in Japan as a foreign company. While I understand the cultural importance of face to face interactions for business, I often never received a reply back or was told they could not help me (all correspondence was done in email but in Japanese).
One thing I noticed during my research and just looking for information and talking with some others in the same industry was that nearly all these retailers in Japan that have access to these products are usually part of a chain and get distribution from within their own closed keiretsu network. It feels like every shop I looked into is affiliated or owned by another company which is owned/affiliated with another bigger company, getting inventory from one of the trading companies that happen to be owned or is a subsidiary of one of the “big six” in Japan.
I contacted one manufacturer with hopes of just seeing if I could order directly or get pointed in the direction of who I can get product from because i had been sourcing inventory from multiple different retailers at retail price (or consumer price) just to fulfill my supply needs. I was looking to buy at least 5million yen+ of product for every release, and this particular manufacturer not only told me they couldn’t help me, but could not point me towards any of their suppliers. I don’t believe it was an issue of money or proving my legitimacy, but every single company was just not open to any sort of discussion saying they could not help me, or would not respond back.
I was not ordering a product that is just sold out everywhere as I could order as much as each retailer was willing to ship.
Long story short, are there not that many independent small businesses in Japan? The stores all seem to be getting inventory from their own closed supply chain network. Here, a retailer in my industry often has multiple distributors (we have about 4-5 major ones that we can order products from) leaving us with options. In Japan, asfaik, these retailers all had one, and was a subsidiary or affiliated with one of the major trading companies in Japan.
Am I crazy or dumb for thinking that maybe it’s because these keiretsus have no interest in helping someone outside their network? Like why would I receive the same access to products and wholesale prices that the retailers affiliated with them do?
I talked to manufacturers, retailers, and even resellers and all seemed very guarded about info for distribution, and would not provide any information about specific suppliers. And just no information on the about the industry supply chain in general for the public. But in the US, manufacturers and producers publicly list their official suppliers and distributors for the product.
Would anyone be able to shed some light on this?
by furbyzzz