Since
the end of the 90’s, the wine market in Japan has experienced a tremendous growth - Wine
consumption has nearly quadrupled in 30 Years.
Wine
imports started in the early 70’s, with essentially French wine as it was
and is still considered as a reference in the wine market. Moreover, most Japanese oenologist were trained in France, hence, Japan has always shared the
same methods and oenological norms as French. In 1995 Shinya Tasaki
became the world’s best sommelier marking a shift in wine demand
in Japan with a huge increase in consumption resulting in more imports especially
for middle to high range wines.
Growths in the wine market
From the end of the 90’s, annual revenues in the wine market grew by 4% until 2010 when the market reached its maturity leading to annual growth of around 2 to 3%. In 2019, growth only reached 1.75% and unfortunately in 2020 revenue in the wine market is expected to plunge by 11.2% due to the COVID 19 issue which is impacting most of global economy.
Wine consumption in Japan
According to figures from the year
2013, the overall annual consumption of wine in Japan was around 2.7L per capita and accounts for 8% of their annual alcohol consumption. However, wine
consumption in Japan is very diversified as there are many types of consumers
for many types of wines.
Older people with higher revenues are the biggest market for wine as they will prefer to buy high-range wine,
French “Grand Crus”, for around ¥3,000. Japan is the eighth biggest consumer of French wine and Japanese consumers tend to
drink more of these “Grands Crus” than the French themselves.
According to a report from the
United States Department of Agriculture and the French Chamber of Commerce in
Japan, Japanese “wine fans” mostly live in urban areas with 70% of the
wine consumption taking place in the cities, especially the Tokyo area in the
Kanto prefecture where the average annual wine consumption was around 8L per
capita. The Kansai prefecture with Osaka and Kyoto is also a large wine
consuming area where the average annual wine consumption is around 4 to 5L per
capita. As previously noted, most wine consumers are middle-aged or older persons as younger people tend to drink more Japanese traditional alcohol such as
Nihonshû or Umeshû just to name two of them.
Wine is mostly bought from
specialized shops or retailers, and Japanese wine consumers tend to drink not
at home but at the restaurant. Kyoto, being a city where people tend to have
higher incomes and the average population is older, welcomes a large variety of
French or luxury restaurants where Grand-Crus and other high range wine can
be consumed.
Importation of Wine in
Japan
In 2015, 70.2% of the wine consumed in Japan was imported from overseas. The gross value of these imports was estimated at around \200 million according to the Japanese National Tax Agency.
Although France has always been one of the most important wine producers, from 2007 they were only the second biggest wine importer in volume in Japan as Chile and Japan signed a trade agreement to lower the tax on wine import from Chile. Thus in 2017, Chile’s imports represented 32% of wine imports in Japan whereas French wine represented 22%.
However, even though French wines represent a
lower volume of Japanese imports, in gross value, French wines were ahead
of other wines, with a gross value reaching €800 million in 2018, where the gross value for Chilean
wines only reached €160 million according to the French Embassy in
Japan.
Value of Wine imports in Japan (in million €)
Figures from a report on the Wine Market in
Japan from the French Embassy
French wine imports are expected to rise as Japan and the EU signed a commercial agreement in 2019 to completely remove taxes on imported goods including wine. France could then take back its position as the number one wine importer in the Japanese wine market, followed by Chilean wines.
Hello, Matthieu.
ReplyDeleteDo you know why young people prefers traditional alcohol? I assumed that it was more a thing for elder generations, accustomed to local and non-imported bewerage.
Anyways, your article is interesting, and it is no surprise that urban area drink more wine, correlated with their income.
Hi Thibault,
DeleteThank you for your comment.
First of all, you must know that younger people tend to go drink to local traditional bar called "Izakaya" where only beer and Japanese traditional drink are served.
Moreover, wine being more expensive in Japan than a bottle of Umeshû at the convenience store.
Another important factor is that some traditional Japanese alcohol are easier to drink, with fruity or sweet tastes, which younger people tend to appreciate.
Wine is also seen in Japan as a typical French or Italian beverage, so people will drink some at a French or an Italian restaurant, which are really expensive and often out of young people's budget.
Last, younger people in Japan nowadays are getting more and more interested in their own culture and traditions, so they will maybe tend to drink more Japanese beverage than foreign beverage.
I hope I managed to answer your question,
Sincerely.