Japanese Food Exports 2025: What It Means for Your Restaurant

Japan's food and agricultural exports hit a record ¥1,700.5 billion in 2025, up 12.8% on 2024, and grew a further 11.0% in January to July 2026. For a Japanese restaurant abroad, that trend means two things: Japanese ingredients are getting easier to source in more markets, and the fastest growing products (green tea, seafood, sauces) point to the kitchen skills that will be in more demand. This page reads the numbers for what they mean for your menu and your hiring, not as a trade report.

1. 2025 in one line, and 2026 so far

Japan's exports of agricultural, forestry and fishery products and food, compiled monthly by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) from the Ministry of Finance's trade statistics, were ¥1,700.5 billion in 2025, up 12.8% on 2024 (¥1,507.1 billion). It was the thirteenth record year in a row, and exports rose to every major destination.

Growth continued into 2026: January to July exports totalled ¥1,042.3 billion, up 11.0% on the same period a year earlier. MAFF's own explanation, from interviews with the trade, is growing interest in Japanese food, better awareness through inbound tourism, and rising health consciousness, which expanded volumes through existing channels and opened new ones.

2. The trend since 2012

Exports have nearly quadrupled since 2012, a longer and steadier run than most restaurant categories see in any market. The government's 2030 target is ¥5 trillion; the policy detail, including the parallel target for restaurant companies' overseas earnings, is on the export data page for Japanese businesses.

3. Where the exports go, against your restaurant count

Export value per restaurant is not a real figure (exports include retail, manufacturing and non-restaurant uses), but the gap between rank and restaurant count still tells you something. Hong Kong and Singapore buy far more Japanese food, relative to how many Japanese restaurants they have, than China or Vietnam do: their retail and grocery channels for Japanese ingredients are unusually developed for their restaurant scene. China is the opposite, with by far the most restaurants and comparatively modest export value, which points to more local and regional sourcing of the ingredients Chinese Japanese restaurants use. Exports to the US grew despite tariff measures introduced from April 2025, on strong demand for green tea and beef; the US, Taiwan and South Korea each reached record highs. Full country and region detail is in Japanese restaurants abroad: the data.

4. The products a Japanese kitchen buys

From MAFF's 2025 item table, the lines a Japanese restaurant is most likely to buy directly or through a distributor:

Green tea nearly doubled: MAFF attributes the ¥35.7 billion increase mainly to powdered tea, including matcha, used in lattes and sweets in Europe, the US and ASEAN. Scallops and yellowtail rose on higher volumes and, for yellowtail, higher unit prices as US buyers ask for larger, fattier fish. Sauces and seasonings grew on US and Asian demand for mayonnaise and flavours such as sesame and shiso.

5. What each trend means for your kitchen and your hiring

• Matcha demand needs a barista, not just a chef. Green tea exports rose ¥35.7 billion in 2025, almost entirely on powdered tea for drinks and desserts. If you are adding a matcha line, the skill you are short of is someone who can whisk and serve it correctly, a different hire from a kitchen cook; see hiring matcha cafe staff.
• Seafood growth outpaces seafood skill. Scallops (+30.4%) and yellowtail (+27.4%) are the two fastest growing lines a kitchen buys. MAFF's certification data shows only about 3,976 people worldwide hold any level of its Japanese cuisine certification, roughly one certified cook for every 45 Japanese restaurants abroad (detail in Japanese restaurants abroad: the data). Do not assume a candidate can break down a whole fish because the ingredient is now easy to buy; test the skill directly, see testing a chef before hiring remotely.
• Sake and whisky growth (+5.6% and +12.2%) raises the value of a beverage-literate hire. As these lines become easier to stock, a chef or floor lead who can build a drinks list and explain it to guests adds more to the check than one more kitchen hand does; see hiring a sake sommelier.
• Growth outside the traditional big markets is broadening where you compete for staff. South Korea (+20.0%), Thailand (+17.1%) and Australia (+16.6%) all grew faster than the overall 12.8%. Where Japanese food demand grows fastest, competition for experienced Japanese cuisine staff usually follows within a year or two, not immediately.

6. How to read the figures

• Exports, not restaurant purchases. The figures include retail, manufacturing and non-food items such as timber, pearls and ornamental carp, plus ¥103.1 billion of small parcel shipments in 2025.
• Country of shipment, not always country of use. Hong Kong and Singapore are trading hubs, so some exports recorded there are consumed elsewhere.
• Figures are revised. The 2025 figures are MAFF's revised (確々報) release; figures in older articles may differ slightly.

General information, not trade or legal advice. Figures are from MAFF's export statistics, based on the Ministry of Finance's trade statistics, as published by September 2026.