A group of activists stages a campaign to boycott the 2020 Tokyo Olympics while calling it the “Radioactive Olympics” in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul on Aug. 7, 2019. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 12 (Korea Bizwire) — The boycott movement against Japanese goods is now going beyond Japanese beer and fashion brands to infiltrate baby products and hobby items.
Consumers have been updating the list of boycotted items through social networks, and sharing ways to distinguish Japanese products by checking the barcode.
According to SSG.com, Shinsegae Group’s online shopping firm, sales of Japanese diapers, including those by GOO.N and Merries, between July 1 and August 8 dropped by 12 percent compared to the previous month, and 15 percent since on year.
Sales of Huggies, an American baby product brand with goods produced by a Korean subsidiary, rose by 44 percent since the previous month, and 73.6 percent since the previous year.
NoNo Japan, a website that provides the boycott list of Japanese goods, is recommending Huggies as a better replacement for other Japanese brands.
When it comes to baby products, it has been a common practice among consumers to stick to the brands that they choose for the baby.
The boycott movement, however, seems to be encouraging consumers to use alternative brands.
Hobby items, including games and golf gear, are also being influenced by the ‘No Japan’ movement.
11Street, a major South Korean online shopping mall, reported that Nintendo sales between July 7 and August 6 dropped by 30 percent since the previous month.
SSG.com said that Honma, Xxio, and other Japanese golf brand sales between July 1 and August 8 dropped by 12 percent since the previous month.
In addition, fewer people are searching for Japanese products at online shopping malls, indicating that fewer South Koreans want to purchase Japanese goods.
On 11Street, the number of searches for ‘Uniqlo’ in July dropped by 45 percent compared to June, while searches for ULOS, a Japanese cosmetics brand, dropped by 43 percent.
Roihi-Tsuboko medical patches, JetStream pens, and baby brands Richell and Combi saw drops of 19 percent, 23 percent, 19 percent, and 24 percent, respectively in their number of searches.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
