Consumers wooed by better quality

It should shame domestic manufacturers that there are frequent stories in the media about Chinese tourists traveling to Japan and frantically purchasing ordinary goods.

The latest product being snapped up by Chinese visitors to Japan is condoms, a product that like previous objects of desire, such as toilet seat covers and electric rice cookers, do not require cutting edge technologies to make.

According to one Japanese condom maker that is battling a shrinking local market, some of its customers have run out of some of its prophylactic products due to the surging demand of Chinese tourists.