The Asian self storage industry is slowly growing, although self storage has not taken off there as quickly as it has in the United States and Europe. Japan formed its own self storage association a little over a year ago, and held its first meeting last January in Tokyo. Now the Japan Self Storage Association (JSSA) has become affiliated with the national Self Storage Association of the United States. The documents affiliating the two organizations were signed last month when JSSA Managing Director Tatsuya Saji visited the SSA headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia. Michael Scanlon Jr., the SSA's president and CEO, also signed the document.
Members of affiliated self storage associations can attend each other's conferences, meetings, and trade shows. As an additional benefit, JSSA members will receive SSA publications, such as its newsletters and magazines. The JSSA will translate SSA publications into Japanese for JSSA members.
Last November, Saji wrote an article for Inside Self-Storage explaining the differences between the Japanese self storage market and the self storage market in the United States. Self storage facilities in Japan, he argued, need to "think small." "A small American self-storage facility," Saji said, "would seem large by Japanese standards." In Japan, Saji explained, self storage facilities are referred to as "trunk room," not "self storage." It is common for self storage companies in Japan to begin operating by selling space in ocean containers (the same containers that are used for shipping on container ships). Later, though, some companies upgrade their offerings by putting up permanent buildings, which offer better quality storage, including climate-controlled units.
In addition, Saji noted, Japanese self storage companies almost never have managers or operators on-site. It does not make sense to waste space on an office when most facilities are so small to begin with. Instead of signing a rental agreement on-site, Japanese self storage tenants do so by mail after making a reservation online or by phone. Because contracts are sent out to tenants in the mail, it is not normally possible to rent a unit the same day that it is reserved.
In addition, unlike U.S. self storage facilities, Japanese facilities do not emphasize security. They do not install computer-controlled access gates or tall security fences. Renters use an ordinary key to enter a facility's front door, and also have an individual key for the individual units that they occupy. Tenants can get to their units at any time of the day or night.
At the time of Saji's article in Inside Self-Storage, there were only a few self storage facilities operating in Japan:
- Quraz, with 36 facilities offering (as of last November) 500,000 square feet of space
- Hello Storage (operated by Arealink Co Ltd.), which, at the time, had a total of 33,000 spread out over 600 locations
- Reise Box (developed by Reise Co. Ltd.), with 350 locations in Tokyo and Osaka. Reise offers garages, which are in demand in Japan among people who own cars and do not have a place to park them.
Sources used:
"Japan and U.S. Self-Storage Associations sign affiliation agreement." Inside Self-Storage. April 5, 2010.
Saji, Tatsuya. "Self-Storage in Japan: opportunities exist in a country thirsty for space." Inside Self-Storage. Nov. 8, 2009.