Market Overview

The domestic uniform market in FY2018 based on the shipment value at manufacturers attained 525,400 million yen, 101.7% of the size of the previous fiscal year. The demand for working uniforms at the sites of construction and improvement of infrastructure for 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games has boosted the entire market. On the other hand, office and school uniform have been on the fall. Decline in office uniforms is because of some companies refrained from using employee uniforms and because smaller number of employees per company as a result of automating the business processes to improve productivity. Decreasing school uniforms is affected by fewer children in the society.

Noteworthy Topics

Uniforms with Electric Fans (Air Conditioning Uniforms) Showing Favorable Sales

Uniforms with electric fans (air conditioning uniforms) are the newly developed working uniforms equipped with small electric fans at the right and left sides of the hips, aiming to maintain coolness inside the clothing and to vaporize the sweat by bringing in the fresh air into the surface of the human body. They are mainly used at construction sites.


In the status where construction for the facilities used for 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic games and improvement of infrastructure have been in progress, air conditioning uniforms have attracted attention as the solution against the intense heat. The sales of such uniforms have been remarkably good, as some retailers at some regions have sold out. However, in the mid-term view, the demand of such uniforms is projected to be affected by negative influence, as the construction demand in the wake of the Olympic and Paralympic games is expected to fall.

Future Outlook

The domestic uniform market based on the shipment value at manufacturers is likely to achieve 539,600 million yen by FY2021.


As the demands from both construction associated with Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic games and from services at hotels and restaurants visited by increasing number of foreign tourists are projected to continue growing for the future, working and service uniforms are projected to expand. However, the market is regarded to enter decreasing phase for the future, due to uncertain construction demand in the wake of the Olympic Games, diminishing long-term working population, and vagueness in the future inbound tourism demand.


While those companies abandoning uniforms and having fewer employees as a result of automated business processes aiming for improved productivity are likely to continue increasing, the market of school uniforms, too, is projected to scale down, because of smaller number of children and price hike of wool. Therefore, both the office and school uniforms are expected to decline.

Research Outline