The Impact of TikTok and Live Streaming in Japan

タピオカミルクティー, which means pearl milk tea, trended for quite long on TikTok in Japan. Considering the cultural background of the Japanese people, these terms were very rare close to non-existant when they suddenly went viral and boosted the milk tea market landscape.

▼ Young people queuing up to buy milk tea at American Village, Osaka, Chuo-ku, Osaka-Higashishinsaibashi

▼ Once very popular "chin rest" challenge on Japanese TikTok platform

The Chinese hip-hop culture greatly impacted the trends back in 2018, and Japan was among the countries influenced by it. Typically Japan is a big cultural influencer all across Asia, however, the Japanese people have always seemed reluctant to accept new ideas coming from other countries.

So what was the reason behind their change of mind? The voice of Gen Z (1997 – 2012) in Japan, became dominant on the internet because of Tiktok. Gen Z got an opportunity to express themselves this eventually brought a positive impact on the majority of people. The voice of the youths can be heard worldwide with the influence of TikTok which has dominated other social media platforms.

Unlike Gen Y (1977-1995), nowadays Japanese young people are more open to accepting new ideas coming from overseas. A valid example would be the mid-age Generation Y Japanese consumers who insist on using flip phones. Although flip phones are old-fashioned, many local Japanese manufacturers continue their production for these Generation Y users.

▼Pictures from Asahi News & LITORA，copywrite belongs to the original author

A famous Japanese political commentator, Atsuhiko Nakata, once shared his opinion on the characteristics of Japanese young people of Gen-Z on his social channel, he concluded that:

They are more willing to pay for products that resonate with their values;
In comparison to traditional public advertisements, they prefer brands they trust, online celebrity influencers and word-of-mouth;
After shopping in the physical stores, they prefer online shopping.

Consequently, with these changes the shopping behaviors of young Japanese consumers are becoming more similar to the Chinese ones.

In September 2021, the famous Japanese weekly magazine abolished the traditional advertising method of hanging banners on the train. This is because the target audience can be reached through digital advertising as they stay hooked on their smartphones. Therefore the traditional advertising methods are gradually being replaced by digital advertising methods.

Digital advertising such as SNS and live streaming had not become as popular in the Japanese market but there were many successful cases of short video advertising in the Japanese market. A dietary fiber beverage targeting young Japanese women quickly became "the talk of the town" after releasing the video advert on TikTok. The brand experienced a tremendous boost in sales. Another example is that the only official account of the BMW certified store in Yamagata Prefecture used attractive young women for their car video promotion. As a result, the social account acquired nearly 100,000 followers overnight.

▼Pictures from Note & TikTok For Business，the copywrite belongs to the original author

Apart from TikTok, local Japanese video creators have also started live streaming on other platforms. For example, the live streaming service "HandsUp" and the Rakuten Market announced that they would begin live streaming in November 2021, which has become a Japanese media focus.

▼Pictures from Do!Solutions、 TSUHAN SHIMBUNSYA & ApparelWeb，the copywrite belongs to the original author

The issue of network instability has always bothered many Japanese companies that want to try new business models. From our observation of major companies' active and ongoing attempts, we can foresee that Japan will soon enter the new marketing era of short video promotion. Therefore, companies that desire to enter the Japanese market should also keep up with the trends and continuously improve their marketing strategies for the Japanese market.