Chris Loew

Shigeru Ishiba, Japan’s new prime minister, gave the first speech of his campaign on 15 October at the Onahama Fish Market in Iwaki, where he vowed to revitalize the area’s maritime industry, among other goals – which now face a more difficult path after a snap election saw the country's Liberal Democratic Party lose its ruling coalition.

Ishiba was elected by the Japanese parliament to the position on 1 October.

During

Tokyo, Japan-based frozen foods company Nichirei's FY 2024 report revealed the company had increased revenue but a low return on equity as it faced high raw material and energy prices.

Nichirei, which also handles logistics and trade for seafood and meat products in addition to its frozen food operations, reported net sales of JPY 680.1 billion (USD 4.6 billion, EUR 4.2 billion) for FY 2024, up 2.7 percent year over year. Profit attributable to

Japan’s recently released Fishery White Paper for the 2023 fiscal year showed that per-capita seafood consumption in the country continues to drop, leading Japanese seafood producers to turn toward exports as the domestic market becomes ever more unreliable.

The fiscal year 2023 report highlights that per-capita consumption of edible fish and shellfish sank to a new low of 22 kilograms; nearly half of the 40.2 kilograms per-capita consumed

Amid a severe shortage of trucking capacity in Japan due to a labor shortage and logistics inefficiencies, two of the country’s biggest seafood companies – Nissui and Maruha Nichiro – are collaborating with three frozen food companies Nichirei, Ajinomoto Frozen Foods, and TableMark to establish a new logistics system.

“The frozen food industry faces unique challenges, such as the labor load on workers due to the