Introduction: Analysing Japan’s Agro-Food Sector

Even the most casual and short-term visitor to Japan cannot fail to make some pertinent observations about Japan’s agro-food sector: landing at Narita airport he views the tidy, parcelled and densely settled paddy cultures of Northern Chiba prefecture. In food stalls and convenience stores he purchases neatly packaged high-quality foods at extravagant prices. Restaurants serve one of the world’s best cuisines usually for an even more exorbitant bill. The agro-food sector accounts for 22% of all employment, 11% of all production, 30% of all consumer expenditure and easily qualifies as the most important single component of the Japanese economy. Yet with an average farm size of only 1.2 ha and the paramount food security arguments enjoyed in a traditionally relatively isolated island nation, the ‘backwardness’ and high cost structure of Japan’s strongly protected agro-food structure at first sight might appear plausible.