Japan’s Economy in Mood for Royal Wedding : Asia: The business sector is hoping the event will spark consumer sentiment and help lift the country out of its current slump.

Japanese business people believe that they’ve found the perfect antidote to their ailing economy: a royal wedding.

Shopkeepers, manufacturers and even beer companies are all counting on Crown Prince Naruhito’s upcoming wedding to Masako Owada, expected to be held later this year, to boost consumer sentiment and put Japan on the path to economic recovery.

“Just like the Clinton recovery in the United States, the engagement will brighten public sentiment and help consumption to recover,” says Rokuro Ishikawa, chairman of the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“The engagement will have a bigger (economic) impact than the government’s $87-billion stimulative package,” says Takuya Okada, chief executive of the Jusco supermarket chain.

“She (Owada) will look even prettier and more intelligent on a high-definition television set,” says Norio Ohga, president of Sony Corp., referring to the high-picture-quality sets that consumer electronics makers have been trying in vain to promote for the last two years.

Consumer electronics companies hope to see a repeat of 1959, when Japanese flocked to buy television sets to witness the wedding of Naruhito’s father, Akihito, Japan’s current emperor.

If Naruhito’s wedding has the same effect on the Japanese economy that his parents’ had three decades ago, it could result in $27 billion in additional consumer spending and add 0.8 percentage points to Japan’s economic growth, according to an estimate by NLI Research Institute, the research arm of Nippon Life Insurance Co.

But how much of that is wishful thinking? Probably a lot.

“Psychologically, it may have a big impact,” says Josen Takahashi, analyst at Mitsubishi Research Institute. “Up until now, there has been no bright news and there is no better theme to rally around than this.”

But Takahashi says it is unclear whether even the nonstop media coverage of the wedding can reverse consumer psychology and get people to open their wallets enough to pull Japan out of its current slump.

Michael Jeremy, a consumer electronics analyst at Baring Securities Co., is particularly pessimistic about the event’s chances of boosting sales of the $8,000 HDTVs. The additional benefits from buying those televisions are marginal compared to the benefits consumers received in 1959 from buying their first television set, he notes.

Nevertheless, analysts agree on one thing: Royal weddings are infectious. They have the effect of getting people in the mood for marrying.

A surge in weddings, they say, would boost sales because newlyweds typically buy a complete set of new consumer electronics and furniture to stock their home.

And Imperial nuptials are great for commemorative products.

Brewers are planning commemorative beers. Cosmetics companies will sell special-edition cosmetic packs, and the government wants to sell commemorative gold coins.

Department stores have already put up pictures of the Imperial couple in shop windows and hung six-story-high congratulatory banners from their rooftops to put customers in a buying mood.

Now they are reportedly ordering their clothes designers to come up with new lines of apparel to match Owada’s “conservative but chic” taste in anticipation of a “Masako” boom.

Jewelry stores will keep a close eye on what Masako wears to her wedding for a hint of future sales trends.

When Princess Kiko married some years ago, she wore pearls. Predictably, there was a boom in pearl sales.

One apparel company has indicated that it will put up for sale in May a Masako-style, one-piece swimsuit designed to make women look “intelligent but active.” Masako, a Harvard graduate and official in the Foreign Ministry, also loves to ski.

One market that doesn’t seem quite convinced yet is the stock market. Although the key Nikkei index of the Tokyo stock market rose briefly on the morning after the wedding was announced, it has since plummeted, closing at 16,634, 2.8% below its pre-wedding announcement levels.