Inside Japan’s Shrimp Market: Beyond the Trade Statistics 🦐

Inside Japan’s Shrimp Market: Beyond the Trade Statistics offers a concise overview of Japan’s shrimp market, bringing together insights that have rarely been explained in English. It helps readers understand the market’s structure, buyer preferences and the roles of different products and suppliers.

Based on interviews with Japanese trading companies and wholesalers, together with market estimates, the report presents aspects of the market that are not captured in official statistics. For example, it examines the shares of head-on shell-on, headless shell-on and peeled products in Japan’s 2025 frozen shrimp imports, and the different uses of Indian and Ecuadorian vannamei.

The author, Akiyoshi Ukida, is Head of Minato News and has reported on Japan’s seafood industry since 1995. On September 2, 2026, he spoke in the Trade Statistics session at the fifth Global Shrimp Forum (GSF) in Utrecht, the Netherlands, presenting insights into Japan’s market alongside panelists covering the United States, China and Europe. This report explores market developments that he did not have time to cover on stage.

Japanese buyers look beyond price. The report explains how freezing and deveining methods influence their choices, helping readers understand which specifications suit the Japanese market.

The report also covers boiled and sushi shrimp and Japanese-style breaded shrimp, which he did not discuss in his presentation at GSF.

Where possible, photographs are included to show how shrimp are sold and served in Japanese retail and foodservice settings.

28 pages | English | PDF

Who This Report Is For

• Japanese buyers’ product preferences
• Product forms and species shares not captured in official statistics
• How shrimp are sold and served in Japan

Contents

Introduction

 • Shrimp in This Report

 • About HS Codes

Japan’s Shrimp Market

 1. Size of Japan’s Shrimp Market

 2. Changes in the Frozen Shrimp Market

 3. Shell-On and Peeled Shrimp

 4. Ecuador and India

 5. Non-Cold-Water Frozen Shrimp Imports by Species

 6. Prepared Products

 7. First Half of 2026

Closing — A Value-Added Market

Note: This report was prepared on October 7, 2026.

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