The land of the rising markets

Bill Harvey reports from this year's IOFT show in Japan and finds a thriving market with increasing interest from Europe and the Asian mainland

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The 18th International Optical Fair Tokyo (IOFT) took place this autumn and boasted a record number of exhibitors (400) from over 20 countries and a record number of visitors (15,000).

Primarily a trade show, the fair is more akin to Silmo and Optrafair with only a few parallel seminars and lectures, all concerning marketing skills and customer service.

The vast majority of exhibitors were frame manufacturers and suppliers, with scant representation of instrumentation and, interestingly, no contact lens suppliers or manufacturers at all.

However, the fair is increasingly being used as a launch pad for companies to raise their profile in the rapidly growing Far East market, and increasing numbers of Europeans have joined the small but expanding numbers of Korean and Chinese companies in promoting their products alongside the many thriving Japanese frame and lens companies.

Instrumentation

The show comprised a number of globally known optical corporations with major exhibitions. Nidek is as well known for its medical technology in Japan as for its optical related products. It is a major player in medical lasers as well as being involved in global research in developing artificial vision prosthetics - a camera-based system using cortical implantation to simulate low resolution but perceivable images for the profoundly blind.

Its major launches at the show included a loyalty scheme system for all its customers (the first such scheme in the Japanese optical industry), as well as an expanded tinting facility allowing any tint to be produced on demand. It was also heavily promoting the R5100 integrated refraction unit, one of the few products at the show aimed at the consulting room.

There was much fuss surrounding a mobile consulting room which was essentially a full consulting room contained in a van. Secrecy around the design led to me having my camera confiscated for a short while when I was caught photographing the interior. The Mobile-Optician from the Nissetsu Co is the simplest idea but is being snapped up by practitioners aiming at developing their market through rural areas.

Topcon was also represented but concentrated mainly on edging machines with not an instrument in sight. Its edging business was expanded when Hoya sold its significant business to the company and now Topcon holds a major portion of this area of the industry.

Lenses and Frames

Hoya had possibly the largest exhibition stand at the show. It has developed from a general glassware company and outlets for Hoya glassware products still abound throughout Japan. Its full range of lenses and tints were on display as well as a large range of Hoya frames - the frame business is a major part of its Japanese interests.

Essilor is a comparatively unknown name in Japan and has for a long time liaised with Nikon to gain a better market share. It was placing great emphasis on the Relaxsee lens, a lens aimed at providing 'visual comfort' for the pre-presbyope, particularly if spending long periods at the computer screen.

The frames were the real stars of the show and ranged from the traditional to the avant-garde. One company deals exclusively in handcrafted bespoke wooden frames. Indeed wooden designs appear popular in Japan and larger manufacturers, such as Kamuro Co, were launching synthetic wooden frames.

The all pervading aesthetic in most aspects of Japanese life puts great emphasis on the interaction of the material with the ethereal, Shinto dictating that all objects have a spirit or god influencing their properties or behaviour. Frame manufacturers often use such inferences in describing their wares. Kagero Design Works, for example, promotes its newly launched Labyrinth design as representing the arms of Ashura, the famous god statue at the temple in Nara.

As such, the frame is said to express 'gentleness and sadness', something which a European marketing campaign may find challenging. Another in the Labyrinth range includes a fish motif, aimed at promoting peace and gentleness for whoever wears it.

Much buzz was generated around the Oakley stand with particular interest in the Thump frame. The all-embracing obsession for things high-tech in Tokyo meant that Thump, incorporating a flash memory chip and earpieces allowing the wearer to listen to MP3 music files on the go, is assured of significant sales over here.

The Wish Company of Japan tempted fate by offering a frame with a lifetime guarantee; apparently the Grand X is impossible to break and delegates were encouraged to try to prove them wrong. As far as I am aware the frame survived, so perhaps their claim should be taken seriously.

There is increasing interest in the markets in China, Hong Kong and Korea. In fact the Korean economy in recent decades has rivalled the somewhat turbulent Japanese market. Hong Kong businesses at IOFT seemed almost exclusively to be manufacturers of cases, accessories and display units.

Leo-Optics of Hong Kong was one of the few frame suppliers and was promoting its Motif range with an array of colour weave patterns available. Representing Korea, the Viewtech Company was showing its AnyView DFS dispensing software which allows the dispensing optician to demonstrate the various cosmetic benefits of any frames incorporated in the system.

An interesting idea being resurrected to a big market demand is the use of interchangeable hinge and temple parts, allowing a very flexible frame design to meet individual patient requirements. The Maxis system from Gankyo of Tokyo does just this and seemed to attract many delegates. Another innovation awaiting patent was the 'trig' system from Kamuro which has three small holes for pins to hold lenses firmly but allowing some adjustment.

For an exhibition this large, this report has necessarily been just a snap shot, but the overall impression is of an event gaining increasing importance in an area of the world with great potential for development. Manufacturers ignore it at your peril.