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The Nikkei Trendy '95 Best Sellers 30

The Nikkei Trendy magazine (Dec 95 issue) selected top 30 best selling products and services in 1995. Here is the list of the best sellers and short explanations.

1. Multimedia personal computer Internet and Windows 95 boosted the fever for PCs. Shipment of 95 reached 5 million units, up from 3.35 million of previous year.
2. Cellular phones Reduction of both initial cost and rate resulted in 6 million users.
3. Odessay Honda's mini-van sold more than 100 thousands, suggesting the new direction of family-used cars.
4. Play Station Sony Computer Entertainment's 32 bit game machine outsold SEGA-SATURN, thanks to its rich game software.
5. Dior Svelte FORTUNE magazine's best product of last year came to Japanese market, attracting ladie's eternal desire to be slim.
6. Overseas mail order Everybody tried catalog shopping, taking advantage of yen appreciation.
7. Tetsuya Komuro music Tetsuya Komuro produced many best hit CDs. Five of 25 top sellers were produced by him.
8. Anti-earthquake apartment houses Kobe earthquake in January shocked people so much that they became interested in housings which absorb the rollings.
9. PHS The service of Personal Handy-phone Systems started in July. Despite the limitaiton and some initial trouble, consumers are interested in these products.
10. Wide TV-set Although there are just few "wide" programs on the air, the wide-size TV sold 3.5 million sets, double of the previous year.
11. Snow board While skiing may not seem cool, snow boarding is getting IN. This season 500 thousands of boards are expected to be sold, up from 200 thousands of last season.
12. Spa-oh Nisshin Food's new instant noodle Spa-Oh, or King of Spaghetti, sold 10 billion yen in half year. You will have a reasonable spaghetti just in one minute.
13. Quickle wiper Kao's easy-to-use and silent clean up gear appealed to housewives, sold 6 million units.
14. Happoshu (sparkling liquor) Last year, beer drinkers went to low-priced imported brands. This year, Suntory and Sapporo introduced new type of malt drink, taking advantage of tricky liquor tax law. They are actually beers under U.S. regulations.
15. Family travel to Hawaii Strong yen and competition among travel breaus made Hawaii tour a big hit.
16. Toyota card First time in the car industry, Toyota launched Toyota Card with poit incentives. It gathered 1.5 million members in a year, a record pace in the card service system.
17. Smell-out foods Many young ladies are "semllphobia". There were so many products that help to sweep out many smells of their own.
18. Pachinko Pachinko rushed even into Tokyo's status district such as Ginza and Akasaka. In July, finally, all Pachinko salon building has emerged in Shibuya. It became a fashionable leisure, rather than dirty gamble.
19. Display radio receiver Small LCD screen on the radio receiver provides news or traffic information. This type of receiver sold more than expectation.
20. Casio QV-10 Its low priced digitl camera met new PC users.
21. Foreign currency savings Because intesest rates are so low, people found foreign currency more attractive than yen savings.
22. Slimming soap Suddenly, China made soap became a hit. They sold 1 million pieces in August, 2 million in September. And then, suddenly boom went over and ...
23. Sakura Bank CAN Sakura Bank introduced high interest "Can" card in this super low interest time. While it limits beneficial services, its interest rate is 40% higher than that of other bank. It collected 55 billion yen deposit in 2 months.
24. Protection goods for calamities Kobe earthquake reminded people to prepare emergency goods..., at least right after the disaster.
25. J rap Rap had been considered hard to fit Japanese language. In 95, EAST END x YURI kicked this genre with "DA. YO. NE.", followed by million seller "MAICCA--"
26. ck Calvin Kline Japanese taste of fashion comes back to American style. Sales of ck brand reached 10 billion yen in 95.
27. Body board Easier than surfin, high scholl girls enjoyed nody board in the sea shore
28. Italian brands They love Italian brands, such as Ferragamo or Gucci. Japanese travellers occupied shops in Italian cities with strong yen.
29. On-line Karaoke Laiser Disk used to dominate the Karaoke market. Now, more than 80% of new Karaoke is wired. People can sing the latest hit song instantly.
30. McDonald's value price Hamberger at 130 yen, compared to 210 yen previous year. Sales naturally increased with double-digit ratio.

Japan Opinion Poll