With only about 30,000 tonnes of tomatoes processed annually, Japan is a small processor on the global scale but a major import market with a significant domestic consumption with many high value and innovative products.

Tomatoes are mostly produced by small farmers in the East of the country on a surface of about 500 hectares and are mainly used to produce high value seasonally packed tomato juice. The price of the tomatoes is probably the highest in the world at nearly 500 USD per tonne.

Japan is a net importer of tomato products with about 150,000 tonnes of tomato paste, 100,000 tonnes of canned tomatoes and  7,000 tonnes of sauces imported annually, a large proportion of it from the EU and North America.

Japan is a member of WPTC through the Japan Tomato Processors Association (JTPA)