Sales of Sendai aloha shirts made from recycled kimonos are on the rise among tourists at a duty-free shop at Narita airport, thanks to their unique Japanese designs.
The shirts, called Samurai Aloha — which is also the name of their Sendai-based manufacturer — were launched in hopes of helping the area recover from the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. Combined with strong online sales, the company said this is a good time to tap into the purchasing power of overseas customers due to the weak yen.
At the airport’s Terminal 2, after the security checkpoint for international departures, the duty-free floor is lined with luxury brand boutiques such as Hermes and Gucci. The small pop-up store for Samurai Aloha is located in a corner of the “Narita 5th Avenue” shopping area.
