IFFT/Interior Lifestyle Living 2008 Shows Much More Than Furniture

The IFFT/Interior Lifestyle Living 2008, which ran Nov. 19-22 at the Tokyo International Exhibition Center (Tokyo Big Sight), proved that, despite the global recession, the market for interior decor and lifestyle furnishings is lively as ever, also confirmed by regular cable TV airings of actual interior space retrofits and ingenious DIY furniture building in Japan. The two-in-one trade fair attracted 367 exhibitors from 14 countries, of whom 301 were local and 66 coming from abroad, all of which drew some 26,912 visitors during the four-day show.

The twin show taps the popularity of two major fairs in Japan to set up an exhibition that has wider scope and world-class status. One of the twins is the "International Furniture Fair Tokyo (IFFT)," the biggest furniture-oriented fair in Japan organized by the International Development Association of the Furniture Industry of Japan (IDAFIJ), and the other is "Interior Lifestyle Living," the autumn version of "Interior Lifestyle" (Ambiente Japan & Heimtextile Japan).

Such combination has literally broadened the horizon of the original IFFT, by adding much more than furniture to the "IFFT/Interior Lifestyle Living," with buyers who found literally everything to fill a home for any kind of lifestyle, including indoor and outdoor furnishings, home textiles etc.

Five Product Categories

Five main product categories were shown at the IFFT/Interior Lifestyle Living 2008:

1. Furniture: living & dining room furniture, kitchen furniture, bedroom furniture, kids' furniture, outdoor furniture, office furniture, contract furniture, materials for furniture and others;

2. Kitchen & bathroom equipment: wallpaper, floor covering, kitchen system, range hood & other equipment, bath system, bathroom equipment and others;

3. Home textile: bed linens, sleep system, table linens, kitchen linens, bathroom textiles, curtain, sun blind system, carpet, rugs, furniture fabric/leather and others;

4. Consumer goods: tableware, kitchenware, household goods, gift items, and interior products; and

5. Design: home fashion collection, design product, products for contract business, product design, etc.

Perhaps indicative of the impact of the global recession that has compromised spending power in the West and the way Asian exporters are trying to cope, China-based exhibitors outnumbered all the other foreigners to total 22, with Taiwan trailing at 19, and Norwegian exhibitors numbering 13.

Mostly Japanese Visitors

Of the 26,912 visitors, 26,302 or almost 98% of whom came from within Japan and the remaining 610 from abroad, which may again reflect the result of the global downturn that has battered Japanese export, forcing local businesses to look for opportunities within its own borders. Also perhaps for no better reason than proximity as well as the recently skyrocketing Japanese yen, which makes business visits to the nation especially costly, the 179 mainland Chinese visitors led other foreign groups, with South Koreans being second at 116, and 74 having come from Taiwan.

The visitors targeted by the organizers of the IFFT/Interior Lifestyle Living are generally involved to some extent in retail stores, department stores, mail order houses, trading businesses, design studios, hotels, food and beverage, with some being distributors, interior decorators, home builders etc.

Seeing the overwhelming proportion of the visitors to the "IFFT/Interior Lifestyle Living 2008" having come from within Japan, the twin show is clearly regarded as an ideal platform to find new business in the Japanese market, as well as a venue for local and global exhibitors to present new ideas, concepts and products for contemporary, enhanced lifestyles indoors and out. Such is hardly hype considering that the Japanese obviously sets high standards for living: Japan is home to some of the cleanest cities worldwide; the Japanese even has a tea-drinking ritual; and the nation's home appliance makers turn out some of the finest products for virtually every purpose.

Exhibitor and Visitor Breakdowns

The following tables show the exact breakdown of the exhibitors and visitors at the IFFT/Interior Lifestyle Living 2008:

Exhibitors' Country & Number
Country	No. of exhibitors
Japan	301
China	22
Denmark	1
Germany	1
Hong Kong	1
India	1
Malaysia	2
Norway	13
Singapore	1
South Korea	2
Switzerland	1
Taiwan	19
Turkey	1
U.K.	1
Total	367

Visitors' Number and Country
Australia	2	Philippine	2
Austria	1	Poland	1
Belgium	1	Romania	31
Canada	3	Singapore	8
China	179	South Korea	116
Denmark	2	Spain	3
Egypt	1	Sweden	1
Finland	3	Switzerland	3
France	1	Tahiti	2
Germany	14	Taiwan	74
Hong Kong	26	Thailand	31
India	4	U.K.	2
Indonesia	7	U.S.	6
Ireland	4	Vietnam	1
Italy	14	Undetermined	50
Malaysia	14	Overseas total	610
Netherlands	1	Japan	26,302
New Zealand	1	Total	26,912
Norway	1