Country Analysis
Japan accounts for the bulk of organic food sales in Asia. The country is the economic powerhouse in Asia and its consumers are the most affluent in the region. There has been high demand for organic foods in Japan since the 1990s and the market is expected to dominate Asian revenues in the future.
The Japanese market for organic foods was valued at $3 billion in 2000 however the definition of organic foods included many uncertified organic products, like those with low amounts of chemical inputs. The tightening of the definition of organic foods by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture led to the market size to shrink to $250 million in 2001. Much of the expansion in the Japanese organic food market is due to more organic products receiving official recognition rather than consumer demand rising.
There is a large market for ‘green foods’ in many Asian countries. Green foods are mostly fresh produce that are grown with low amounts of pesticides and synthetic fertilisers. It is estimated that the market for green foods is worth almost $3 billion in Japan and almost $7 billion in China.
The Chinese market is deemed to be the second largest in Asia, valued at $20 million in 2002. The majority of certified organic foods are sold outside the country and only a small percentage is sold within the country.
Other important markets for organic foods are in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea. The small size of the consumer markets in the prior three countries is responsible for the low market size for organic foods. There is a large market for green foods in South Korea however very few internationally recognized organic products can be found in the country.
The revenue share of Japan is expected to decrease slightly over the forecast period. More organic food sales are expected to occur in countries like China, India and Thailand as organic food production steps up in these countries and consumer affluence increases. It is projected that Japan will account for about 80 percent of Asian market revenues by 2009.

Japan
Japan is a particularly difficult market to quantify as far as organic food is concerned. It is well known that there is a large market for “specially cultivated crops’ or “green products’ (grown with reduced use of chemical pesticides and fertilisers). The Japanese organic food industry used to be the second largest in the world after the United States however new government regulations caused the market to shrink by a factor of 12 in 2001. Organic food sales were valued at US $3 billion in 2000 and the new Japanese Agricultural Standards (JAS) caused revenues to shrink to US $250 million in 2001 due to a tightening of the definition of organic foods.
The new JAS regulations have provided uniform standards for organic foods and they have allowed organic foods to be clearly distinguishable in the marketplace. A common logo, the Organic JAS Mark, is put on organic foods that meet JAS requirements. Only foods that have been certified by a registered organisation can be sold as organic foods in Japan. There were over 70 Registered Certification Organisations (RCOs) that could certify and inspect organic foods in 2002. These include Japanese and foreign certifica0on organisations. Japanese RCOs include Japan Organic & Natural Foods, Organic Certification Association, OCIA Japan, Nippon Organic Association (NOA) and Ishikawa prefecture.
There are about 3,200 organic farms in Japan managing 5,083 hectares of organic farmland and most are in Okayama and Kumamoto prefectures. There is estimated to be double this amount of organic farmland in Japan. The official estimates are based on those organic farmers that have registered and about the same number have not registered with MAFF. Organically managed land accounts for about 0.25 percent of total agricultural land in Japan.

Organic farming is difficult in Japan due to the lack of arabic land and high cost of inputs. The warm, humid summers also make crops vulnerable to pests and plant diseases. Japanese farmers typically use a high level of pesticides. Agrochemical usage levels are some of the highest in the world, estimated to be over seven times as much as North American farmers. The small farm sizes and close proximity between them is responsible for contamination of organic farms by chemicals and pesticides from conventional farms. The amount of certified organic farmland in Japan is projected to increase substantially in the coming years. The new JAS regulations are causing many farmers to register their organic farms with MAFF, which is mandatory if they want to have the JAS mark on their products. The government is yet to introduce standards for organic livestock production in Japan. Organic meat and dairy products are not controlled by JAS and they can be imported and sold as organic foods without the JAS logo because of this.