9月23日（水）「支出増やしたい」食料品が16%で過去最高、ソフトバンク空飛ぶ基地局
Even as Japanese consumers hold tight to their wallets, the share who want to spend more on groceries has hit a record-high 16% since tracking began in 2022, with younger demographics leading the trend. SoftBank successfully tested a High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) airship over Kochi Prefecture, demonstrating large-capacity communications as a disaster-resilient alternative to ground infrastructure. Meanwhile, Eastman Kodak upended Japan's camera market by targeting the neglected ¥20,000–¥30,000 compact-camera segment, toppling Canon from the unit-sales top spot Canon had held for over 20 years.
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What this episode answers
What percentage of respondents said they want to spend more on groceries, and what is driving that trend?
16% of respondents said they want to increase spending on groceries, the highest since the survey began in 2022; this is driven by resilient interest in food quality despite an entrenched frugality culture, especially among younger age groups.
What is the HAPS technology that SoftBank tested over Kochi Prefecture, and what capabilities were confirmed?
HAPS is a communications-equipped unmanned airship operating at high altitude, independent of ground infrastructure; SoftBank's test over Kochi Prefecture confirmed it could handle large-capacity communications including voice calls and drone control, making it useful for maintaining connectivity when disasters knock out terrestrial networks.
How did Kodak manage to overtake Canon for the top position in Japan's domestic camera unit-sales rankings?
Kodak overtook Canon by entering the Japanese market with compact digital cameras priced at ¥20,000–30,000, a segment domestic makers had abandoned as smartphones made point-and-shoot cameras seem obsolete, and capturing that vacant demand—reflected in a 60% year-on-year rise in used compact camera transactions in 2023 and a 49% surge in 2025 lens-integrated camera shipments.
What did the Hakuhodo DY Holdings survey reveal about per-person content spending, and which category grew the most?
The survey found annual per-person content spending averaged ¥81,022, the second-highest since the survey began in 2011; movie spending grew the most among genres, up 1.9% year on year to ¥289.2 billion, boosted by hits like the theatrical Demon Slayer films.
How does the joint venture between Shionogi and Shimadzu aim to detect pandemics at an early stage?
Groceries Are the Exception to Japan's Saving Mood — Spending Intent Hits an All-Time High of 16%
The share of consumers who said they want to increase spending on groceries rose one percentage point year on year to 16%, the highest level since the survey began in 2022. Despite an entrenched culture of frugality across most spending categories, interest in the quality of daily food has proven resilient — a trend that is especially pronounced among younger age groups.
SoftBank Proves HAPS Works Over Kochi — A New Communications Lifeline for Disasters
SoftBank successfully completed Japan's first real-world demonstration of a High Altitude Platform Station (HAPS) — a communications-equipped unmanned airship operating at high altitude. Flying the craft over Kochi Prefecture, the company confirmed it could handle large-capacity communications including voice calls and drone control. Because HAPS operates independently of ground infrastructure, it is seen as a critical tool for maintaining connectivity when terrestrial networks are knocked out by natural disasters, and commercialization is now moving faster.
Kodak Overtakes Canon — How a Budget Compact Camera Shook Up Japan's Camera Market
For the first time in more than two decades, Canon lost its position as Japan's top-selling camera brand by unit volume. The company that dethroned it was Eastman Kodak of the United States. Kodak entered the Japanese market with compact digital cameras priced in the ¥20,000–¥30,000 range, a segment that domestic manufacturers had abandoned as smartphones made point-and-shoot cameras seem obsolete. Kodak moved into that vacuum and found a ready audience.
The show's hosts explained the boom partly through personal experience. Signs were already visible back in 2023, when second-hand compact camera transactions were up 60% year on year. Domestic shipments of digital cameras by Japanese companies rose 7% in 2025 versus 2024, but lens-integrated cameras — the compact category — surged 49%. One host described the appeal as the slightly soft, hazy look compact cameras produce: "the colors and shapes have the same quality as the mental image you get when you're trying to remember a memory" — a texture that smartphones simply can't replicate.
Other Stories Worth Watching — Poplar Publishing in India, Wastewater Disease Detection, and AI Inference
Poplar Publishing (ポプラ社), one of Japan's leading children's book publishers, announced it will establish a local subsidiary — Poplar Publishing House India Private Limited — in Delhi by the end of September. The company plans to release 40 titles, including the beloved *Kaiketsu Zorori* series, as it looks to expand its overseas business in the world's most populous market.
AdvaSentinel, a joint venture between Shionogi & Co. and Shimadzu Corporation, is working to commercialize technology that detects infectious disease outbreaks early by analyzing household wastewater. The service is aimed at municipalities, hospitals, and elderly-care facilities.
This episode's ten-second business term was "AI inference" — the process by which a model built through machine learning generates predictions or judgments in response to new input data, with image recognition and text generation cited as prime examples.
Per-Person Content Spending Reaches ¥81,022 — Cinemas and Real-World Experiences Drive Growth
Hakuhodo DY Holdings (博報堂DYホールディングス) reported that annual per-person spending on content — including anime, music, and related categories — averaged ¥81,022, the second-highest figure since the survey series began in 2011. The survey was conducted online between February and March 2025, covering men and women aged 15 to 69 across Japan, with 10,000 valid responses collected.
Breaking it down by genre, movie spending grew 1.9% year on year to ¥289.2 billion, boosted by hits such as the theatrical *Demon Slayer* films. The broader picture is one of consumers who engage with content digitally every day but are increasingly willing to open their wallets for in-person experiences at cinemas and for merchandise purchases.
Takeaways
- The share of consumers wanting to spend more on groceries reached a record 16% since tracking began in 2022, driven by a growing focus on food quality even amid widespread frugality, particularly among younger people.
- SoftBank's successful HAPS demonstration over Kochi Prefecture confirmed high-capacity airborne communications independent of ground infrastructure, accelerating the technology's path to deployment as a disaster-resilience tool.
- Kodak's budget compact cameras captured Japan's unit-sales top spot from Canon for the first time in over 20 years, as compact camera shipments surged 49% in 2025 on the back of a booming retro-camera trend.
This article is edited from a machine transcript of the first 30 minutes of the episode. It is not an official summary — please listen to the episode itself.