The politically divisive plan to move the famous Tsukiji market and the lucrative business opportunity brought about by the boom in Malaysian and Indonesian tourist visits were the most talked-about topics at the Japan Seafood and Technology Expo, which took place 17 to 19 August in Tokyo.
The expo featured 1,300 booths and drew 35,000 visitors, and a long program of seminars aimed at topics relevant to Japan's seafood indsutry. The most-attended seminars at the expo focused on the relocation of the Tsukiji wholesale market and halal certification.
Moving the Tsukiji market, which is Japan’s largest seafood market, was first promoted by Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara and his plan was continued by his successor. The argument in favor of the move is that the old market lacks some modern sanitation and cold chain facilities.
Toshiyuki Okano, who is both a professional fisheries engineer and deputy general manager of the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Systems Association, and Eisuke Urawa, manager of the Tokyo Seafood Wholesalers Association, spoke at the expo on “Quality and hygiene management at the new Toyosu wholesale market.” The lecture was presented by The HACCP Certification Acceleration Support Center (formed by the Institute of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Systems Association).
Okano and Urawa said the plan has become politically divisive after the recent election of Yuriko Koike as the new governor of Tokyo, and the discovery that the proposed new location for the market is contaminated with toxic chemicals.
Following Koike’s election, the move of Tsukiji market was delayed on 31 August from a planned November date until after January, in order to review groundwater contamination data. The new market is slated to be built at the former site of a Tokyo Gas facility, which environmental studies have found to be polluted with chemicals including lead, arsenic, hexavalent chromium, cyanogen and benzene. Opponents of the move claim that this pollution data was suppressed in order to push ahead the plan to move the market.
Another theme of several presentations was marketing and the development of sales channels, especially to meet the increasing demands of those seeking halal-certified food in Japan.
Japan is trying to increase tourism from Southeast Asian countries like Malaysia and Indonesia, where rising incomes are allowing more people to vacation overseas. According to the Japan National Tourist Organization, more than 300,000 tourists visited Japan from these two countries in 2013, up from 140,000 in 2011.
Three expert in halal (Islamic) certification – Tomohiro Sakuma of the Halal Japan Business Association Institute, Ryuichiro Hiratsuka of Yamatoku Hiratsuka Fisheries Ltd. and Mohammad Charmin, CEO of ASLIMK Ltd. – presented a lecture, "From the marine products halal seminar: fundamentals to strategy," and a moderated panel discussion on “Prior company experiences and key Muslim markets: listening to the buyer.”
Sakuma, Hiratsuka and Charmin said relaxed visa requirements are the main reason for the increase. In July 2013, Japan abolished the visa requirement for short-term stays for Malaysian citizens who have passports with biometric data embedded in an IC chip. In June of 2014, a similar exemption was announced for Indonesia.
A Singapore-based organization promoting global halal travel estimated that Muslim visitors to Japan could reach one million by 2020. To support the trend, Japanese tourism authorities have been holding seminars in tourist areas to train hoteliers and restaurateurs to cater to Muslim guests. Many tourists come as part of organized groups, but tour operators have noted that Japan’s lack of knowledge about prayer times and facilities and food requirements is an obstacle to Islamic tourism. At the same time, there is an opportunity for halal-certified restaurants and groceries to move into this niche.
Other seminars at the expo included “How to spread the puffer fish diet in the world,” organized by International Fugu Association, “Efforts of a new shellfish aquaculture that leads to sushi species” by the National Research and Development Institute of Fisheries Research, which explored the merits of suspended-line scallop farming, and “Food education activities and dissemination of domestic marine products in school meals,” which seeks to promote the inclusion of more seafood in school lunches to promote both healthy eating and a domestic-foods based diet.
