Japan’s Citrus and Agricultural Markets

An archipelago nation, Japan has one of the world’s five largest economies. Located on East Asia, Japan is a mid-sized nation with a total territory of almost 378.000 square kilometers, which is slightly smaller than California. Japan has a total population of over 126 million citizens, however, it has one of the world’s oldest populations with a median age of 47 years. This issue affects the agricultural industry in particularly given that old and retiring farmers are not being replaced by younger generations. With an annual gross domestic product (GDP) of approximately US$4.9 trillion, Japan’s economy is divided into 2% agriculture, 27% manufacturing, and 71% services. However, the agriculture industry utilizes some 13% of the national territory, while another 69% is forested. Similarly, the Japanese agricultural industry employs 3% of the national labor force, while manufacturing employs about 26% and services employ another 71%.

Japan is a largely urbanized country whose population is largely concentrated throughout a dozen major cities such as Tokyo, Osaka, and Yokohama. In terms of natural resources and geography, Japan has some mineral resources throughout its, mostly volcanic, territory and a developed fishing industry. Likewise, within the manufacturing industry, Japan produces motor vehicles, advanced electronic equipment, machinery, steel and nonferrous metals, ships, chemicals, textiles, and processed foods. Within the agricultural industry, Japan’s main products are vegetables, rice, fish, poultry, fruit, dairy products, pork, beef, flowers, potatoes, yams, sugar cane, tea, legumes, wheat, and barley. This article explores the status of agricultural markets in Japan.

Japan’s Citrus and Agricultural Markets

In terms of trade, Japan’s most important partners are the United States, China, and South Korea. During 2017, Japan is expected to import 13.000 metric tons of butter and another 13.000 metric tons of non-fat dairy milk. This represents a decrease in butter imports from 2016, when the country imported some 17.000 metric tons. Meanwhile, it represents an increase in Japan’s non-fat dairy milk imports from 4.000 metric tons in 2016.

Within the citrus markets, Japan produces grapefruits, tangerines, and mandarins, amongst others products. During 2014/15, the country devoted some 55.000 hectares to the production of fresh tangerines and mandarins. The total harvested area then decreased to 54.000 hectares in 2015/16 and 53.000 hectares in 2016/17. Similarly, Japan’s production has also declined from over 1 million metric tons of fresh mandarins and tangerines in 2014/15 to an annual average of 960.000 metric tons during 2015/16 and 2016/17 respectively. In terms of trade, Japan’s tangerine and mandarin imports have increased in recent years from a total of 12.000 metric tons during 2014/15 to some 17.000 metric tons in 2015/16 and an expected total of 25.000 metric tons during 2016/17. Meanwhile, throughout recent years, Japan has exported the minimal amount of 3.000 metric tons of fresh mandarins and tangerines annually.

Likewise, Japan is a consumer and producer of grapefruit, devoting little over 1.100 hectares to domestic operations growing this fruit. In recent years, Japan has yielded an annual average of 25.000 metric tons of fresh grapefruit. Furthermore, Japan imports an average of more than 80.000 metric tons of grapefruit annually.

(Read more about Ecuador’s Agricultural and Economic Outlook)