Japanese eyewear maker JINS bets on premium pricing as deflation mindset fades

Hitoshi Tanaka built JINS into Japan's largest eyewear chain by selling glasses for less than 5,000 yen to shoppers who had learned, over decades, not to spend money they didn't have to. That was the deal: cheap, fast, reliable. You could get a pair of frames and lenses ready in thirty minutes for the price of a convenience store lunch. It worked. The company that opened its first shop in Fukuoka in 2001 now operates 560 stores across Japan and 265 more scattered through China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

But something shifted. Earlier this year, JINS released a limited run of designer spectacles priced at 90,000 yen—roughly $716—to mark the opening of a new flagship store in Ginza, Tokyo's most expensive neighborhood. The company expected to have enough inventory for half a year. They sold out in two months. Tanaka, now 63 and still the company's chief executive and largest shareholder, saw in that sellout a signal that Japan's long deflationary era had finally loosened its grip on the national psyche.

"The era of discussing products based on price alone is over," Tanaka said. "If something has real value, customers will buy it, even at a higher price." The average selling price for a pair of JINS glasses has climbed from the original 4,990 yen to between 12,000 and 13,000 yen. The company is moving away from its dowdy storefronts in train stations and shopping malls, opening instead in ritzy venues and offering a broader range of prices and styles. Some of the new premium frames come in titanium, acetate, or celluloid. Others are designed with special tints meant to highlight cheekbones or conceal dark circles—products that suggest JINS now sees eyeglasses not just as functional objects but as accessories worth paying for.

The shift reflects something larger happening in Japan. After the pandemic, as inflation began to creep back into the economy, consumers showed a new willingness to spend on small luxuries. Keita Nunokawa, a 26-year-old office worker, recently paid about 15,000 yen for a pair of lightweight glasses at a JINS store in Shinjuku. "I try to cut back on everyday expenses where I can, and spend money on things I care about," he said. "If it's something I really want and can use for a long time, I'm willing to pay for it." That calculus—pinching pennies on groceries while splurging on something durable and meaningful—has become common enough that other deflation-era retailers like Daiso and Uniqlo are attempting similar repositioning, trying to shed their bargain-basement image without losing the customers who built them.

Yet the recovery is uneven. Real wages, particularly for workers at smaller companies outside Tokyo and other urban centers, have not kept pace with rising costs. Many shoppers remain deeply price-sensitive after three decades of stagnation. Michael Causton, a researcher at JapanConsuming, noted that "Japan has become a much less homogeneous market in terms of consumption capacity and behaviour. People are spending where they have to, but they're still saving a great deal because they're very worried about inflation." JINS' challenge is to navigate that split—offering premium products to those who can afford them while keeping enough affordable options for those who cannot.

Tanaka sees an even larger opportunity beyond Japan's borders. The company's stock is up nearly 50 percent this year, and it expects to post record sales of 110 billion yen for the fiscal year through August. But Japan's population is aging and shrinking. To sustain growth, JINS must expand overseas. Tanaka is betting on the United States, where the company currently operates six stores in Los Angeles and one in San Francisco. He has noticed American tourists seeking out JINS locations in Japan and viral social media posts from the United States about the company's Beauty Glasses—the cheekbone-flattering lenses that proved so popular at home.

The American market is dominated by EssilorLuxottica, a French-Italian conglomerate that owns Ray-Ban and Oakley and operates 18,000 stores worldwide. It is a formidable competitor. But Tanaka believes JINS' appeal lies not in price but in performance and design—the same qualities that convinced Japanese consumers to pay more. "It's a major challenge for JINS, but I believe we can do it," he said. "If we succeed in America, investors' view of JINS will change, and it will help us become a global brand." Whether a company built on the principle of affordable chic can compete in a market where premium eyewear is already entrenched remains uncertain. What is clear is that Tanaka is no longer betting on deflation.