Gearoid Reidy, Columnist

Collapsed Cakes and the Price of Perfection in Japan

Japanese consumers are used to demanding the best. But amid a labor crunch, they might have to start paying more.

January 9, 2024 at 9:00 PM UTC

Gearoid Reidy is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Japan and the Koreas. He previously led the breaking news team in North Asia, and was the Tokyo deputy bureau chief.

Tokyo Department Stores As Spending Beckons In The Next Step In Japan's Hunt For Inflation — Photographer: Akio Kon/Bloomberg

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Compared to the chaos that has engulfed Japan in the opening days of 2024, the final days of last year seem like a halcyon age.

Before an earthquake caused devastation across the Noto peninsula and Japan Airlines Co. flight 516 narrowly avoided disaster at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, the biggest news item that preoccupied the country was the great Christmas cake scandal. After some 800 strawberry shortcakes arrived at households across the country damaged and misshapen, executives of department store operator Takashimaya Co. bowed in apology at a press conference carried on national television.