Japan’s retail industry has struggled to capitalize on the increased demand from tourists, largely because of the labor shortage. Many clothing retailers are looking to hire staff who can speak Chinese, English and other languages as a way to capture the opportunity created by inbound tourists. For many, this involves not just training foreign staff to work on shop floor but also providing them thorough knowledge of their brands and operations.

Most of Japan's retailers typically hire foreigners to fill shortages on the shop floor, a symptom of the country’s shrinking working-age population. World Mode will spend several weeks training these workers on the finer points of Japanese-style customer service and the basics of the fashion industry, with the aim of sending them to stores operated by luxury brands and apparel companies.

The hope is that well-drilled, knowledgeable staff will be able to help raise the brand image of the stores that hire them. The company’s hope is that hires like these can encourage overseas tourists to become long-term online customers. This year, Fast Retailing hired about 20 foreign graduates with a view to placing them in managerial roles.

Foreign visitors to Japan in the first six months of this year increased 16 per cent from a year ago.