Agribusiness and Meat Production in Japan

Japan is a constitutional parliamentary monarchy and archipelago nation located in northeast Asia. With a total territory of 377.915 square kilometers, Japan is a midsize nation, almost the same size as California. Furthermore, Japan has a coastline of 29.751 kilometers and does not share a land border with any neighboring nation. Geographically, Japan has a rugged and mountainous terrain, a temperate seasonal climate, and volcanic formations.

In terms of meat production and consumption, Japan’s aggregate production of beef and pork meat in 2017 remained similar to that of 2016 as a 1.0% decrease in the amount of head of cattle was upset by higher weights per head. During 2017, the Japanese industry slaughtered some 1.05 million head of cattle. Simultaneously, during 2017, the United States exported a record amount of beef towards Japan and overtook Australia as Japan’s leading supplier of chilled beef.

Agribusiness and Meat Production in Japan

Today, Japan has a total population of approximately 126.5 million citizens, which makes it the tenth most populous country in the world. However, demographics do not favor Japan, given that the average age of its citizens is 47 years old. Likewise, about 94% of Japanese live in an urban setting, notably the capital city of Tokyo with its 38 million inhabitants. In economic terms, Japan has a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of US$5.4 trillion (in terms of purchasing power parity, PPP), which represents the seventh largest economy in the world, after the United States, the European Union, China, and India. Similarly, Japan’s economy is divided into 1% agriculture, 30% manufacturing, and 69% services. Furthermore, it is estimated that the agricultural industry employs 3% of the national labor force, while manufacturing employs 26% and services employ another 71%. Lastly, in Japan, the agriculture industry utilizes 13% of the national territory, while another 68% is forested.

In terms of trade, Japan is the world’s fourth largest export economy. During 2016, the country imported US$583 billion worth of goods and exported US$605 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of US$22 billion. Furthermore, Japan’s main export, representing 15% or US$90 billion of the country’s total in 2016, were cars. Likewise, the country’s main import that same year, representing 8.7% or US$51 billion of all international purchases, was crude petroleum. Meanwhile, Japan’s main trading partners are China, Hong Kong, the United States, South Korea, the European Union, and Australia.

Unfortunately, in Japan, approximately 3 million people suffer from undernourishment. In recent years, the average per capita protein intake of animal origin amongst the Japanese population has been some 48 grams daily. Simultaneously, land distribution and output in Japan has evolved throughout the last half century. Back in 1961, arable land in the country covered 5.7 million hectares, while permanent pastures and meadows represented 1.1 million hectares and permanent crops accounted for 350.000 hectares. More recently, by 2015, arable land had decreased to 4.2 million hectares, while permanent pastures and meadows had technically disappeared and permanent crops covered 295.000 hectares.

(Read more about International Milk Trade and National Markets)