Bloomberg
Twilight Express Mizukaze interior video
Twilight Express Mizukaze route video
Had no idea Japan was second place in millionaires.
The president of Kyushus biggest railway had a problem: too few people were riding his trains. The population was getting older, and since retirees dont commute to work, the trick was getting people to want something they didnt necessarily need. One answer: ultra-luxury trains.
It was such a hit that two of Japans top rail companies copied it. In May East Japan Railway Co. debuted its version, a 10-carriage sleeper that whisks its 34 passengers around in absolute splendor. A modern re-imagining of the old Orient Express, it has walls and ceilings that look like a glass honeycomb, a lounge pianist and menus by Michelin-starred chefs. Despite ticket prices as high as $8,400 for a three-night trip, its fully booked through March.
After seven recessions in two decades, its easy to forget Japan still has a lot of money. The country has more millionaires than anywhere outside the U.S. and, according to Bain & Company, its luxury market was the only one in the world that grew last year. European-made status symbols like Hermes handbags and Rolex watches are still splurges of choice, but now legions of Japanese retirees are spending on first-class travel.
Japan is a terrific luxury market, said Greg Schulze, an executive at online travel agent Expedia Inc. And the travel market is just catching up.
The country is in vogue among overseas travelers, record numbers of whom are visiting. But people like Fujio Umemoto, an older Japanese man who owns a yacht with friends, are the main clients for high-end tourism.
After decades of saving and a retirement package, the well-tanned 67-year-old says he now has ample time and money to spend. He wont say how much he received, but last year the average person retiring from a lifetime of work at the same firm got a one-time parting bonus worth $210,000, according to a Japan Business Federation survey.
Japans economy doesnt produce many of the super-rich only six Japanese make Bloombergs list of the worlds 500 wealthiest people, compared with 164 Americans but it is cranking out millions of millionaires. In fact, Japan has more people with liquid assets worth $1 million 2.7 million of them than Germany and China combined, according to the World Wealth Report from consulting firm Capgemini.
In a country with a shrinking population, the elderly and the wealthy are two overlapping demographics that are growing. A stock market rally helped swell the ranks of Japanese millionaires by 11 percent in 2015, the most recent year for which Capgemini has data.
Perhaps nowhere is increased spending by older people more evident than in the cruise ship industry, where the number of Japanese passengers rose 12 percent last year to a record 248,000, according to the transport ministry. Shipping company Nippon Yusen K.K. says its most luxurious trip a three-and-a-half month voyage around the world almost sold out within the first day. The most expensive ticket costs about $230,000.
Demand is drawing overseas competitors. U.S.-based Princess Cruises will start offering voyages year-round from Japanese ports next April. Another operator, Genting Hong Kong dispatched one of its biggest ocean liners to Japan this month. Italys MSC Cruises will offer its first Japan cruise next year and is considering as many as four in 2019.
Most people dont think of bus travel as a luxury option, but Japanese businesses are inventing upscale versions of that, too. A few years ago, department store operator Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd. started offering luxury sightseeing tours from the comfort of a specially designed coach made to approximate the feel of first-class air travel. The buses seat just 10 passengers spread out over a space that would normally fit 40 or more.
There are only ten seats inside Isetan Mitsukoshi Premium Cruiser luxury bus.
Twilight Express Mizukaze interior video
Twilight Express Mizukaze route video
Had no idea Japan was second place in millionaires.