Post-quake Japan finally says yes to eating, drinking and making very merry
With individuals showing “restraint” and everything from firework displays to school trips canceled en masse, things haven’t been quite the same with the Japanese economy since the earthquake and tsunami of March 11.
On top of the human tragedy, the disasters have been hurting the national bottom line for months. That’s why the news announced today that restaurants and bars are finally rebounding has been greeted as something of a minor miracle.
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The 50-point banner headlines trumpeting better-than-expected GDP numbers have been paired in papers and in news bulletins with word of a more tangible recovery measured, in effect, by the opening of millions of purses and wallets.
Bouncing back
As the “Nikkei” newspaper reports, year-on-year sales at bellwether restaurant group Skylark were up close to 10 percent in July.
The unexpected 9.1 percent reversal compares with an 8.6 percent drop in sales, as measured on a same-store basis, in March immediately after the quake.
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Other major restaurant, pub and izakaya operators also saw similar moves back toward good health, as families have tired of austerity and started spending again.
Throw in the notion that the continuing drive to save electricity brought on by the Fukushima nuclear crisis is encouraging people to get out of their hot homes and into air-conditioned restaurants and bars, and it’s clear the nation’s flirtation with being shut-ins is at an end.
