II. Discourse (16%)Rice balls with folded plastic wrappers separating the rice from the seaweed; adozen kinds of cold tea in a dozen different bottles─enter any convenience store inJapan, and you’re immediately struck by the great variety and quality of thepackaging!1 2 3 What’s more, compared with Westerners, the Japanese aremore connected with packaging as a symbol of appreciation, love and care. 45 6 7 8 In this changing industry, nothing is really certainexcept one thing. You can be sure that the goods out there on display on the shelvesof the convenience store will soon be looking rather different.
(A) Packaging has, therefore, attained an important place in Japan’s economy.
(B) The product has to speak to the consumer’s needs with both personality andpractical value.
(C) The Japanese tend to use more packaging because of a cultural emphasis onfreshness and a lack of storage space at home.
(D) New packaging is introduced to Japanese store shelves at a rate of 20 percentper year, the highest rate in the world.
(E) Japanese companies have been accused of over-packaging; but within theJapanese cultural context, that’s not really true.(F) The packaging market is worth over ￥7.4 trillion.(G) In such an environment, a product has to have more than just a nice graphicdesign to differentiate it from its shelf-mates.(H) Moreover, they believe nice packaging adds value because it’s a strong signalof quality.
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