A trio of young Japanese shoppers, wearied but determined, are ninth, tenth and eleventh in line for the Louis Vuitton boutique inside the Galleries Lafayette department store in Paris. "We've been here an hour," says a young man from Tokyo. "No, almost two," chimes in his friend. It's only 11:30 in the morning, but the group is frustrated that the security guard hasn't let a customer past the velvet rope for at least 10 minutes.

Visitors from Japan are responsible for almost half of Louis Vuitton's total global sales. When the Galeries Lafayette boutique opened two years ago the resulting crush of mainly Japanese fans caused the company to install the guard and velvet rope. In Paris, after all, Japanese shoppers get a great deal: a good exchange rate for their yen and prices as much as 30% lower than back home. So important are they as customers to the luxury group that all sales associates who have worked for Louis Vuitton for more than two weeks—from around the world—are sent to Paris to attend a seminar called "Understanding the Japanese Culture." The talks, trips to museums and forays to Japanese restaurants are meant to instill an appreciation for the company's eager Japanese clientele.

Across town from the Galleries, the larger Louis Vuitton shop on the Champs ElysEes is also bustling with Japanese tourists. Most are armed with calculators and magazine clippings with images of products circled. They bypass wide-belted, snap-front raincoats and checkered ballet flats and head straight for the accessories to buy anything with a logo.

"Wallet? Coin purse? Handbag?" A salesperson mechanically ticks off the items for his client. Despite the corporate sensitivity training, the ambience in the shop is factory-like as shoppers file in, order purchases, then line up to pay.

"Women in Japan buy brands that are renowned for their quality," says Naoki Takizawa, designer for Issey Miyake, "and I believe that when women wear these clothes they are comfortable." He pauses and sighs: "I would like to believe that is why they are buying so much of this stuff. But some of them feel much more security when they wear the same thing as everyone else."

N.W.

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