In this photo taken on April 19, 2017, the exterior of French fashion brand Christian Dior’s new shop is seen at the Ginza shopping district in Tokyo on April 20, 2017. (TORU YAMANAKA / AFP)
Tight-fisted shoppers, unsteady economic growth and a shrinking population: Japan doesn’t exactly fit the image of a spending powerhouse these days.
But you would never know it in Ginza — Tokyo’s answer to the Champs-Elysees or Fifth Avenue — where a new 13-storey upscale mall is proving that Japan is still a whale in the luxury business.
The country logs some US$22.7 billion in annual spending on top-end goods made by brands including Chanel, Dior, and Prada, ranking it as the world’s number two luxury market behind the United States. “Luxury products may be more expensive, but they are very well-made,” said 79-year-old Toshiko Obu, carrying her longtime Fendi bag outside the Ginza Six building, which has been drawing big crowds since last week’s opening.
Japan is renowned among the world’s priciest retailers for its discriminating clientele — Chanel tries to keep local customers physically separated from tourists packing more cash than class.
“You shouldn’t forget that a big portion of the luxury clientele is here in Japan,” Sidney Toledano, chairman and CEO of Christian Dior Couture, told AFP at the opening of the 241-store building.

“It remains a strategic market for luxury and, I’d say...