Japan's tuna market, the world's largest, hit hard by coronavirus pandemic

Record ID: 1570216

  • Title: Japan's tuna market, the world's largest, hit hard by coronavirus pandemic
  • Date: 4th September 2020
  • Summary: TOKYO, JAPAN (RECENT - AUGUST 25, 2020) (REUTERS) TUNA BUYERS LOOKING AT TUNA ON DISPLAY AT TOYOSU MARKET TUNA BUYER LOOKING AT LABELLED TUNA ON DISPLAY TUNA BUYER RAISING HAND STAFF WRITING ON CLIPBOARD TOKYO, JAPAN (RECENT - AUGUST 25, 2020) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF TUNA TRADER KIMIO AMANO AND STAFF CUTTING TUNA CARCASS (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) TUNA TRADER AND SALES MANAGER OF INARYOH SYOHTEN, KIMIO AMANO, SAYING: "Sales slumped 90% in April and May during the state of emergency, to a point where I had no work. I've recovered slowly after that but sales are still down 30 to 40% and I'm barely scraping through." AMANO AND STAFF CUTTING TUNA CARCASS/ AMANO CARRYING CHUNK OF TUNA MEAT PIECE OF TUNA MEAT PLACED WITH A YELLOW LABEL SHOWING ITS ORIGIN (Japanese): "SHIOGAMA, MIYAGI PREFECTURE" TUNA MEAT ON DISPLAY (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) TUNA TRADER AND SALES MANAGER OF INARYOH SYOHTEN, KIMIO AMANO, SAYING: "There used to be many foreign visitors at sushi restaurants in central Tokyo, like in Ginza (area). But they are gone (due to the coronavirus pandemic) so my sales have also declined." TOKYO, JAPAN (RECENT - AUGUST 24, 2020) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF IZAKAYA BAR "MAGURO NO SHIMAHARA" SUSHI CHEF OPENING CONTAINER OF TUNA MEAT CHEF MAKING TUNA SUSHI/TUNA SUSHI ON PLATE TUNA SUSHI AT CUSTOMER'S TABLE CUSTOMERS EATING TUNA SUSHI (SOUNDBITE) (Japanese) OWNER OF "MAGURO NO SHIMAHARA", YASUYUKI SHIMAHARA, SAYING: "Customers simply could not come (to my izakaya) so I thought about having them eat (my tuna) at home. The only solution was to deliver it through online shopping."
  • Embargoed: 18th September 2020 10:14
  • Keywords: COVID-19 Japan coronavirus economy fish industry recession slump sushi tuna
  • Location: TOKYO, JAPAN/INTERNET
  • City: TOKYO, JAPAN/INTERNET
  • Country: Japan
  • Topics: Asia / Pacific,Company News Markets,Japan,Economic Events
  • Reuters ID: LVA001CU9U9FR
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Japan's tuna industry is taking an outsized hit from the coronavirus pandemic, pressuring wholesalers at Tokyo's sprawling Toyosu fish market and restaurants to adapt to survive.
    Demand for fresh fish, especially the so-called "king of sushi" bluefin tuna - has declined after the coronavirus crisis decimated orders for large events such as shareholders' meetings and wedding banquets.
    "Sales slumped 90% in April and May during the state of emergency, to a point where I had no work," said Kimio Amano, a 46-year-old Tuna trader and sale manager of Inaryoh Syohten, after cutting up a 158-kilo (384 lbs) tuna caught off Japan's northeastern coast.
    In normal times, customer orders for wedding banquets or funerals, which can be attended by tens or hundreds of guests, can come in for 30 or 40 kilos (66 to 88 lbs) of tuna at a time.
    That is much bigger than a 10-kilo (22 lbs) order from a sushi restaurant or a five to six-kilo (13.2 pounds) order from an izakaya, said Amano, who works at a stall minutes away from the Toyosu Market selling high-quality fresh and frozen tuna, including imported ones.
    While the shops where Amano works has seen a modest rebound in demand from restaurants after Japan ended its state of emergency in late May, orders are suffering from the lack of events and a slowdown at upscale dining bars, such as those in the Ginza area.
    Yasuyuki Shimahara, who owns a dining bar in an upscale Tokyo business district that specialises in tuna dishes started selling boxes of frozen tuna online from July to offset the heavy hit from his restaurant's customer slump.
    "We need people to eat tuna, otherwise my business, tuna businesses in Toyosu, and tuna fishermen can't survive," said Shimahara, who opened the business last year.
    So far, Shimahara has gotten about 200 orders of tuna meat sets that he sells online, each just over $50 for 380g (0.83 lbs). He plans to start selling boxes with more expensive fatty tuna online later this month, which will cost up to 8,500 yen ($80) each. To help his customers, Shimahara has added instruction booklets in the boxes sold online on how best to defrost and serve the tuna.
    While businesses like Shimahara's had hoped activity would pick up from May onward, many Japanese remain wary of venturing out to restaurants.
    "Because of the coronavirus, I try not to go out as often to eat at restaurants. I'm cautious about that. So unfortunately, it's not just (eating less) tuna, but I'm also going out less," said Tokyo resident Kiyoshi Naomoto.
    Japan's imports of high-value tuna jumped 10% in 2019, while bluefin imports surged 13% as businesses prepared for big events like the 2020 Olympics, which was later postponed, the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations said.
    In 2018, global imports of tuna were valued at $15.7 billion, while Japan was the biggest tuna importer that year.
    But the pandemic has hit the industry hard and Japan's tuna imports fell 18% in the first six months of 2020 from a year earlier, finance ministry data showed.
    (Production: Akira Tomoshige, Akiko Okamoto)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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