Report on Self Storage Market in Japan (2021), and Rental Storage Association (Japan) by Tokuo Yoshida, Executive Director at Rental Storage Association Speech at SSAA AGM
Report from Tokuo Yoshida, Executive Director of the Rental Storage Association of Japan
2020 SELF STORAGE JAPAN ONLINE FORUM
Living with Corona
Industry Trends
The Next Big Forum in Japan
On December 15, last year, we co-sponsored Japan's largest self-storage event "2020 SELF STORAGE JAPAN ONLINE FORUM" with SSAA.
The event was held at Zoom's webinar while an increasing number of people were becoming infected with the coronavirus. More than 100 participants came to learn, to collect information. Members were in attendance in addition to companies that are interested in self storage and are considering launching a new business.
Delivering the Forum online enabled more people and companies from outside the Tokyo area to participate. This included some of our new members from companies in Hokkaido and Kyoto.
From Self Storage Association Asia (SSAA), Helen Ng-san (Chair) and Andrew Work-san (Executive Director) gave a presentation about the self storage market of Asia.
The RSA and SSAA keep in touch every week to exchange information.
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Living with Corona
I feel that the negative impact on the self-storage business under Corona is small. Rather, I think it worked in the favour of our industry. With more companies adopting telecommuting or teleworking, more and more people are renting storage space to make a working space at home and to store household things.
In recent years, the number of home-delivery trunk room services has been gradually increasing, and a synergistic effect can be seen in increasing awareness and increasing demand.
Industry Trends
However, the need for built-in rental storage space is changing. In the past, users prioritised facilities that were cheaper and closer to their residence. Nowadays, clean and bright facilities that thoroughly control temperature and humidity are popular. At the new Quraz store, there is a glass-enclosed facility where customers can see the inside of the facility. “Safety and security" where you can see the inside from the outside is preferred by many new customers.
Rental storage spaces built to accommodate female users, such as Storage Plus, are also now popular. In the future, the number of facilities that are in dimly lit places and have security concerns will decrease.
Japan!
It is estimated that there are about 14,000 rental storage facilities in Japan, of which about 50% are in the Tokyo and Kansai areas. There are about 1,200 operators in Japan.
The occupancy rate of rental units is going well, at an average 45% in the first year of opening. This climbs to 82% after the second year and almost 90% after the third year. Annual sales of self-storage will be 75 billion yen in 2020. Even under the corona pandemic, it increased by 3% from the previous year.
The number of businesses that open stores adjacent to coin laundry stores, laundry/dry cleaning shops, convenience stores, shared offices, and meeting rooms is increasing year by year. Facilities that meet demand and improve convenience are performing well.
As a measure to prevent corona infection, the number of “noncontact stores” where people can sign up, close contracts, and move in with no human contact, has increased. Remote monitoring systems have also been implemented in more locations.
In addition, self storage has spread to smaller cities across Japan in regions as dispersed as Hokkaido, Tohoku in the north and Kyushu farther south. This presents an opportunity to make a big leap in the storage business in Japan.
Investment from overseas into the Japanese market is also increasing.
The Next Big Forum in Japan
Finally, this year we are planning to hold SELF STORAGE FORUM JAPAN in Tokyo on November 18th and 19th.
We are planning a hybrid meeting by ZOOM. Details will be announced by the SSAA in the near future. We look forward to your participation in this Forum.
We would like to maintain a strong alliance with SSAA and contribute to the development of this business in Asia.
Thank you so much!
Tokuo Yoshida
Executive Director, Rental Storage Association
Tokuo Yoshida
Executive Director, Rental Storage Association
Rental Storage Association
The RSA is the self storage industry's biggest representative body in Japan. The RSA work with their fellow member operators, and other associations throughout the world as well as consumer groups to continue to improve the Japanese self storage industry. SSAA has a long standing partnership with RSA and together the two associations provide accurate and up-to-date information through our websites and regularly scheduled meetings where we will discuss relevant issues and plan future events to stimulate the self storage industry's consumer awareness and growth.