Japan is the fourth largest goods importer country in the
world. Japan imports of goods from the world worth USD 671 billion in 2017
which accounted for 3.8% of the global imports. The country has recorded trade
surplus of USD 26.24 billion in the said year and the country is focussing to
reduce its imports. It has seen a decline in Japan imports by 7% in last five
years. However, it is raised by 11% of value during 2016-17. Japan is the third
largest economy in the world after the USA and China. The consumer economy of
Japan is large, broad-based and cultured. Japan is highly dependent upon the
import of natural resources as it is the world’s largest net buyer of food
products.

China is Japan’s biggest import partner followed by USA,
Australia and Korea. Petroleum products and telephone sets are the top-most
imports of the country. Check the following table to know the top 10 imports
products of Japan with their value recorded in 2017.

 

Here, we take a comprehensive look at the detailed analysis
of 10 major imports of Japan with their value recorded in the year 2017.

Mineral Fuels &
Oils

Mineral fuels and minerals oils are categorised as energy
sector products and classified under HS Code 27. Crude petroleum oil, petroleum
gas and coal are the top import commodities of the energy industry. Saudi
Arabia, Australia and UAE are Japan’s top exporter countries of energy sector
products. Japan imports of mineral fuels
& oils from the world worth USD 141.21 billion and also third largest
importer of these products in the world. The demand for mineral fuels &
oils has been decreased by 20% of value between 2013 and 2017.

Electrical Machinery
and Equipment

Japan imports of electrical
machinery and equipment stood at USD 92.01 billion in 2017 and these
products are classified under HS Code 85. Japan is one of the major buyers of
electrical machinery equipment and half of the imports were done from China
only in the said year. In this category, the import products are telephone
sets, cable wire, diodes & transistors, electrical transformers, switching
apparatus etc. According to Japan import data, the country has not increased
the demand of these products in last five years and there was slight decline of
2% during this period.

Machinery &
Mechanical Appliances

Japan is also a major consumer of machinery and mechanical
appliances and stood as 8^th largest global buyer of this product. Japan imports of machinery from the
world worth USD 69.11 billion in 2017 which accounted for 3.1% of the global
machinery imports and this product is classified under HS Code 84. Automatic
data processing machine is Japan’s most imported machinery product. Turbojets,
printing machinery, vacuum pumps, AC machines etc. are also imported into Japan
under this product category. China, USA, Korea, Taipei and Thailand are the top
countries selling machinery equipment to Japan.

Optical, photographic
& cinematographic

Japan is world’s fourth largest country importing optical,
photographic & cinematographic and recorded USD 26.94 billion which
represented 4.5% of the total value. USA, China, Germany, Taipei and Ireland
are the list of top supplying market for this product group imported by Japan
in 2017. The instruments used in medical, surgical and dental which mainly
classified under HS Code 9018 stood as Japan top import product in this
category. Their imports have been raised by 11% of value during 2016-17.

Pharmaceutical
Products

Japan is also a major buyer of pharmaceutical products which
come under HS Code 30. Japan pharma
imports from the world worth USD 22.46 billion which accounted 4% of the
global imports for this product. The country mainly imports medicaments
consisting of mixed or unmixed products which recorded over 60% of the pharma
imports in the said year. Japan mainly imports pharmaceutical products from the
USA, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland and France.

Vehicles

The small Japanese vehicle makers have aligned with foreign
manufacturers to develop factories, and motor vehicles to stay competitive
against larger manufacturers. So, they mainly import from the global countries
like Germany, China, USA, United Kingdom and Thailand. Vehicles imports into Japan worth USD 22.42 billion in 2017 and
stood as 13^th largest vehicle importer in the world. Motor car and
motor vehicle accessories are the major imports of Japan in the vehicle
category as together they recorded around 90% of the vehicle imports. Bicycles,
motorcycles, trailers, goods transport vehicles, and tractors etc. are also
imported by Japan under this product group which comes sunder HS Code 87.

Ores, slag & ash

Japan is the second largest importer of ores & slag in
the world after China and this product group is classified under HS Code 26. Japan imports of ores, slag & ash
from the world worth USD 20.85 billion and accounted for 9.1% of the global
imports for this product. The top import commodities of Japan are iron ores,
copper ores and their concentrates in the mining sector. The other products
such as Zinc ores, Molybdenum ores, Manganese ores, Lead ores, and Titanium
ores are also imported into Japan. The country is also a major producer and
consumer of mining materials. Australia, Chile and Brazil are the biggest
markets selling mining items to Japan.

Organic Chemicals

The chemical industry in Japan is the country’s second
largest manufacturing industry and it is dominated by a group of major
corporations. The country is also 6^th biggest importer of organic
chemical and recorded USD 15.89 billion in 2017 which 3.9% of the global
imports for this product. In the global trade, organic chemical comes under HS
Code 29. Japan top import products of organic chemicals are heterocyclic
compounds, nucleic acids, ethers and acyclic alcohols. The strengths of the
chemical industry are innovation and product quality like many other
industries. China, USA, Korea, Germany and India are Japan’s top import partner
of organic chemicals.

Plastics and articles
thereof

The plastic sector of Japan is stable and balanced in terms
of the proportion of the production to demand. Japan imports of plastics stood at USD 15.05 billion in 2017 and
got 11^th rank in the list plastic importing countries in the world. It
has seen a rise in Japan’s plastic import during 2016-17. The list of items
imported into Japan under this category includes plastics articles, polyacetals,
stoppers, ethylene polymer, plates and sheets etc. and these products are
classified under HS Code 39. China, USA, Korea and Thailand are the top plastic
import markets of Japan.

Articles of apparel
& clothing, not knitted

Japan is the 3^rd biggest importer country of not
knitted apparel and clothing accessories after the USA and Germany. Japan imports of not knitted apparel &
clothing from the world worth USD 13.56 billion in 2017 and represented
6.7% value of the total global imports for this product. China is Japan’s major
supplier country of apparel & clothing and supplied 60.6% of the total
purchase in the said year. Vietnam, Myanmar, Indonesia, Italy, Cambodia and
Bangladesh are the next biggest supplying markets for this product imported by
Japan.

We have explained above the top 10 Japan import products. Japan
has proved itself as the most developed country in the world in past decades. It
is the fourth biggest import market and importing from around 200 countries
around the world. To export to Japan, you need genuine buyers in Japan for your
product. Japan import data provided
by Export Genius consists of Japan buyers, foreign suppliers and shipment
details. Let’s check the sample below.

 

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