Furniture market size in Japan 2013-2025

The Japanese furniture market was valued at around 1.1 trillion Japanese yen in 2022. The market can be broadly split into office-use and home-use furniture, with shipments of the latter accounting for the largest share. Wood and metal are the main raw materials used in domestic furniture manufacturing, whereas leather, bamboo, and plastic are used secondary materials.

Home furniture

Home furniture includes primarily objects made from wood like shelves, chairs, tables, beds, and desks. Wood has a long history as a raw material in Japanese carpentry and handcraft and is particularly present in Japanese-style furniture and furnishing. While a small share of lumber used in furniture production is imported from overseas, the majority is supplied by the domestic forestry sector. Metal is mostly used as a supplementary material to increase the stability of objects or for built-in system kitchens.

Office furniture

In contrast to objects intended for private households, office furniture uses metal as a main raw material, favored for its durability, lower price, and easy maintenance. Office desks and swivel chairs made from metal were the largest segments. While the coronavirus pandemic affected the demand for office furniture through shifting working styles, the submarket is expected to benefit from office relocations and new construction projects in the office real estate market following the lifting of restrictions.