Japan

The gas industry of Japan is now just over one hundred years of age and is at that interesting stage of evolving from a traditional, fragmented, manufactured gas-based industry to a rather more sophisticated business, albeit still fragmented, relying to an increasing extent on imported natural gas in liquefied form. In terms of gas connections, Japan is today one of the world’s largest gas markets with nearly 15 million consumers: the market is characterised by a number of unique features as will become evident later in this chapter.