Kimchi Market Trends and Structural Changes in the Vegetable Pickles Industry in Japan since the Start of Korean Kimchi Importation

Abstract

It is widely recognized that an increase in the import of agricultural products and processed products causes damage to the related industry and its farmers. At the moment, average import tax rate of agricultural products is about 12 percent in Japan. Under this tax rate, there are many different kinds of agricultural products at varying quantities, many of which are imported from neighboring Asian countries. The increase of kimchi importation from South Korea has had significant impact on the Japanese pickle industry. This paper analyzes the changes in the Japanese pickle industry and market since the start of kimchi importation. While the importation of kimchi and the processing of kimchi in Japan are corelated, the main factors for these increases remains unclear. In this regard, this study revealed the following points: 1. As taste preferences and processing methods for kimchi were exhaustively studied, a new Japanese-style kimchi was produced and imported kimchi was thus directly incorporated into the Japanese pickle industry. 2. The Japanese pickle industry was stimulated by the importation of kimchi, which had a high profit margin. 3. During the early 1990's, some pickle manufacturers had enough foresight to increase plant investment enabling future kimchi production.