Overview
Japan, with a population of about 125 million, is a major importer
of agricultural products. Japan's mountainous topography limits the
total area available for farming, and the farm area is divided into
holdings that are too small to produce most foods efficiently in a
modern, urban economy. Japan protects key sectors of its agricultural
production with tariffs, which have contributed to high food costs
in Japan. Despite the protection, Japan imports over $30 billion in
agricultural products each year, one-third from the United States,
the leading supplier of Japan's agricultural imports. Japan is the
second-largest export market for U.S. agriculture. ERS analyzes important
aspects of Japan's food and agricultural sectors and the policies
that affect Japan's role in world agricultural trade.
contents
feature
Japan's Fruit and Vegetable
Market examines the country's domestic markets and trade experiences.
Japan's large horticultural market is still largely supplied by
Japanese farms, but fresh vegetable imports, especially from China,
have been increasing. The chapter is part of a report examining
Global Trade Patterns in Fruits
and Vegetables.
recommended readings
Where
Will Demographics Take the Asia-Pacific Food System? assesses
the impact of expanded urbanization, variability in population growth
and immigration, and aging populations on the Asia-Pacific food
system. The ability of developing countries to adjust to rapid urbanization
will be the most important demographic challenge, testing the region's
capacity to deliver a steady flow of safe, reasonably priced food.
Rice Sector Policies
in Japan describes government policies affecting rice farming
in Japan. The tariff-rate quota, by limiting foreign competition,
allows rice prices in Japan that are much higher than outside Japan,
and is the main form of support for rice. Within Japan, government
subsidies compensate farmers for declines in the rice price.
Commodity
Policies of the U.S., EU, and Japan addresses some common goals
of the three, as well as differences in approach and policy instruments.
In recent years, budget pressures and trade agreements have led
each toward less trade-distorting policies. New issues, such as
environmental, food safety, and rural development concerns, may
lead to further policy change.
See all recommended readings...
recommended data products
Production, Supply, and Distribution
(PS&D) contains official USDA data on production, supply, and
distribution of agricultural commodities for the United States and
major importing and exporting countries. The database provides projections
for the coming year and historical data for more than 200 countries
and major crop, livestock, fishery, and forest products.
Foreign Agricultural Trade of the United
States (FATUS) provides U.S. agricultural exports and imports,
volume and value, by country, by commodity, and by calendar year,
fiscal year, and month, for varying periods, such as 1935 to the
present or 1989 to the present. Updated monthly or annually.
WTO Agricultural Trade Policy Commitments Database
contains data on implementation of trade policy commitments by WTO
member countries. Data on domestic support, export subsidies, and
tariffs are organized for comparison across counties. This queriable
database offers various options for viewing and downloading data.
Agricultural Market Access Database
(AMAD) is a publicly available tool for analyzing WTO market access
issues in agriculture. It contains data and information for WTO
member countries, including tariff schedules, tariff bindings, applied
tariff rates, country notifications to the WTO, import quantities,
and other data useful in tariff analysis.
recent research developments
Japan's agricultural policies and their effects are the object of
an ongoing study by ERS and the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service's
Tokyo office. The ERS e-outlook series includes articles written
as part of the project on policies specific to certain commodities
in Japan, such as rice,
pork, oilseeds,
vegetables, and
sweeteners. Additional
articles are planned on policies affecting dairy, beef, wheat/barley,
fruits, and feedstuffs. The study team is planning an overview of
Japan's policies that explores the direction in which policies are
moving and the relative distortionary effects of various policies
on markets inside and outside the country.
Contact: John Dyck.
related briefing rooms
World Trade Organization (WTO)
Agricultural baseline projections
U.S. agricultural trade
related links
Additional data and information on
Japan are available from USDA, other U.S. Government sources, international
organizations, Japan's government, and other sources.
for more information, contact:
John Dyck
web administration: webadmin@ers.usda.gov
page updated: June 15, 2004
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