This paper addressed the purchasing behavior of Chinese youth of well-known confection in Hokkaido. Chinese youth are one of most adaptable eWOM, i.e., electric word of mouth generation through social media and the internet. Thus, the purpose of this study is to test the effectiveness of eWOM in this purchasing behavior. For this purpose, the data were collected through the web-based survey to the employee of an IT and manufacture company in Shenzhen, China and the sample size was 105. A binary logit model was employed to investigate the factors that determine on-line purchase of Hokkaido confections. The results clarified that high-profile confections, real visit experience to Japan, and inhabitants in large cities were factors that positively influenced with statistically significant level. Nevertheless, the eWOM effect was not confirmed this time. This is probably because eWOM is too common for Chinese youth and simple eWOM marketing is not sufficient.

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Japanese tea is gradually gaining popularity abroad due to the distribution of Japanese foods and sweets made with matcha, powdered green tea. However, every tea-producing area faces a trend of shrinking consumption　of Japanese tea. To cope with this downward trend, we investigated attitudes toward the direction of the 6th industry, such as the development of new tea products and the promotion of exports. We conducted a questionnaire survey of tea sellers in Shizuoka, a major tea-producing area. Quantitative analyses revealed that those who had a positive attitude expressed their intention toward the promotion of exports and the development of upmarket and fashionable tea products. It was also confirmed that training abroad is an effective way to raise entrepreneurship.

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Hokkaido has been known as a cheap and low-quality rice producing area due to its cold weather. But the recent and continuing development of good-quality rice varieties is changing the old image of Hokkaido rice. The ways in which agricultural corporations are taking advantage of this emerging opportunity has not been explored, despite its importance in terms of food production and exploring a new market, which we understand to be a sixth industry activity. This paper investigated the factors determining price in the internet-direct selling of rice, focusing on two emerging varieties of rice there. The price determinant model revealed that in central Hokkaido, contest winners and the use of internet shopping sites raised the price, while simultaneous selling of the two varieties reduced it. Therefore, while it is important to build the capacity of internet-direct selling, the quality production of rice will be more important for the future.

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