Japan has a severe shortage of arable land, covering only 11% of Japan’s total territory. The country’s self-sufficiency rate currently stands at 39%. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is the main public player concerned with agricultural issues. Find out more about Japan's agroindustry below.
Until recently, Japanese agriculture experienced a long period of contraction. Since 1990, the value of Japan’s agricultural production has decreased by more than 25% and the number of commercial farm households and agricultural workers by more than 50%.
Japan has a shrinking agricultural sector, marked by workforce and skills shortages due to the lack of young people becoming farmers. The country is also facing growing concerns regarding water shortages.
Organic farming represents a new trend in the Japanese agricultural scenario, even though this type of agriculture is still small in Japan. Before the 1950s, the use of fertilisers was extremely rare, making traditional cultivation organic.
This website and related activities are managed by the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation, a joint venture between the European Commission's Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW) and the Japanese Government's Ministry of Economy, Trade & Industry (METI).
