Market Brief · November 2026
Japan imports around 30 tonnes of caviar a year, making it one of Asia's leading markets. Built on Japan's Ministry of Finance trade statistics (HS 1604.31), this brief covers market size, origins, import price bands, domestic production, how caviar is served, and what Japanese buyers expect.
Annual totals (December cumulative) for HS 1604.31 (caviar; substitutes under 1604.32 are excluded), Japan Ministry of Finance trade statistics.
Import volume (tonnes, bars) and value (JPY bn CIF, line), 2015–2025
January–September 2026: 21,417 kg (21.4 t) / JPY 1.79 bn (same period of 2025: 19.1 t / JPY 1.50 bn; volume +12%). China accounted for about 58% of the volume.
Average import value (CIF, JPY per gram), 2015–2025
Monthly import volume (tonnes), average of 2023–2025
Average CIF value per gram (JPY) by origin in 2025, for the five largest origins.
Average CIF value (JPY per gram), 2025
Japan once had a native sturgeon (Acipenser mikadoi) that ran up the Ishikari and Teshio rivers in Hokkaido. It declined sharply from around 1935 and is now considered extinct in Japan. All Japanese caviar today is farmed.
Under Japan–USSR fisheries cooperation, 200 Bester sturgeon arrive at Miyazaki Prefecture's fisheries station.
First successful artificial hatching.
Japan's first full-cycle farming of white sturgeon.
"Miyazaki Caviar 1983" launches in November at Tokyo department stores: about 15 kg in the first year, about 200 kg by 2015.
Kindai University's "Kishu Sterlet" caviar starts trade sales in December (general sale from September 2026).
Japan's largest producer, grown out of a cooperative of local farmers. HACCP-approved for export to the US and EU. Low-salt (about 3%), aged caviar. Served at international summit dinners and in airline first class.
A farm in Niimi City with about 12,000 fish.
A Seto Inland Sea farm offering single-species caviar such as Bester and Amur.
Small-scale production built around aging.
A producer in Shizuoka Prefecture.
Research began in 1995. Unheated, rock salt only, frozen at −40 °C. DNA sexing at two months improves efficiency.
Total domestic output is estimated at 1–3 t a year, less than a tenth of imports. Japanese caviar positions itself on small volumes, premium quality and the story of its origin, and does not compete head-on with imports.
Major brands whose distribution in Japan can be confirmed from public information (in no particular order; listed as market examples).
A long-established Paris caviar house with a Japanese website and its own boutiques.
A Paris caviar house, sold through imported-food stores and wine shops.
Farmed caviar from Aquitaine in south-west France.
Large-scale farming in northern Italy, sold both to the trade and at retail.
A newer brand with its own Japanese website.
One of the world's largest producers: about 260 t in 2024, exported to 46 countries (press reports). Its Hong Kong listing application states 291.5 t in 2025, 36.1% of the world market. Original tins of 600 g to 1.8 kg are sold to the trade in Japan.
Kaluga × Amur hybrid caviar is already on the Japanese market. Accurate species labeling is the basis of buyer trust.
Brand names are trademarks of their owners and are mentioned only to describe the market.
In Japan, caviar is used less as the star of the plate and more as a small luxury that finishes a delicate dish.
A few grams on a piece of toro or white-fish nigiri, or paired with sea urchin, as the accent of a single bite. Low-salt caviar with firm, well-defined pearls is preferred.
A small spoonful on dashi jelly, chawanmushi or an opening course, where it plays with seasonality and fine tableware.
Classic caviar service with blini, sour cream and Champagne. Hotel caviar fairs and chef events may use large tins of more than 1 kg.
The busiest season is oseibo (early to mid December), Christmas and the New Year. Small tins in paulownia-wood or presentation boxes dominate, and shelf life and refrigerated delivery matter.
All photographs are original AI-generated illustrations and are not connected with any real shop or brand.
Points that Japanese trade and retail buyers check. Items marked Confirm with customs broker / regulatory specialist involve legal requirements and must be confirmed with a specialist.
A written grading standard (bead size, color, firmness, flavor) applied consistently lot by lot.
Exact scientific and common names, e.g. Huso dauricus × Acipenser schrenckii (Kaluga × Amur hybrid). Labels that say only "Beluga" or "Kaluga" risk misleading buyers.
All sturgeon species are listed in CITES Appendix II. An export permit from the Thai authority and a non-reusable label on every container (species code, origin, harvest year, processing-plant registration code, lot number) are required.
Confirm with customs broker / regulatory specialistHACCP or equivalent certification, processing-plant details and a health certificate. An import notification under Japan's Food Sanitation Act is required. Boric acid is not permitted in Japan, and preservatives such as benzoic acid are restricted.
Confirm with customs broker / regulatory specialistKeep roughly −2 to +4 °C, with temperature-logger records from dispatch through customs to final delivery.
Unopened shelf life in days, handling after opening, and production date and lot on the label. Fresh (unheated) caviar keeps for a short time; pasteurized caviar lasts longer (trade listings show up to about 180 days).
Both are in demand. Restaurants tend to choose unheated, low-salt caviar, while gift and retail buyers may choose pasteurized caviar for its longer shelf life. State the method clearly.
Japanese producers favor low salt, about 2.6–3.5%. State the salt percentage and the type of salt.
10–100 g for retail and gifts, 125–500 g for restaurants, and 1–1.8 kg original tins for hotels and events.
Japanese labels must show the country of origin and the importer's name and address. The general tariff is 6.4%; the Japan–Thailand EPA, AJCEP and RCEP may allow duty-free entry with a certificate of origin.
Confirm with customs broker / regulatory specialistWithin the published trade statistics, no imports of Thai caviar into Japan can be found yet. This leaves room for a first mover, but it also means buyers have no track record to rely on. This finding should keep being checked against the statistics and with the relevant authorities (unconfirmed).
Where import volume and value could be in 2031 if past growth continues, shown as three cases.
Everything in this section is an estimate. It simply extends past growth and could change greatly with the economy, exchange rates or regulation.
Import volume: actual (2015–2025) and outlook (2026–2031, estimate), tonnes
| Case | Volume growth/yr | JPY/g growth/yr | 2031 volume | 2031 value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low case | +3% | ±0% | 39.4 t | JPY 3.33 bn |
| Mid case | +7% | +2% | 47.7 t | JPY 4.45 bn |
| High case | +12% | +4% | 60.0 t | JPY 6.16 bn |
Main caveat: the market is small and swings sharply from year to year (−39% in 2020, +48% in 2022). Treat the range as indicative only.
Measured in yen, the import price rose from JPY 63.5 per gram in 2015 to JPY 80.0 in 2025. Measured in US dollars it stayed roughly flat at about USD 480–580 per kg (cross-checked with UN Comtrade). Most of the yen price rise therefore appears to come from the weaker yen (estimate).
| Publisher | Market size | Growth/yr |
|---|---|---|
| Grand View Research (updated July 2026) | USD 520 m (2026 est.) → USD 710 m (2030) | 7.9% (2024–2030) |
| Market Glass (MarketResearch.com, October 2026) | USD 340 m (2025) → USD 590 m (2032) | 8.0% (2025–2032) |
Figures from the public summary pages of paid reports; the full reports were not reviewed (accessed 2026-11-01). Both put global growth at about 8% a year, close to the mid case above (about +7%/yr). Market Glass puts Japan's growth at 4.1% a year. Market-size estimates differ by about 1.5× between publishers, so treat them as indicative.
China's share grew from 16% in 2015 to 49% in 2025 and about 58% in January–September 2026, greatly widening the range of prices and volumes available in Japan. Going forward, restaurants appear to want options that let them choose the origin to suit each dish and price point (hypothesis).
Where the data comes from and how the estimates were calculated. All data was retrieved on 2026-11-01.
Annual (2015–2025) and monthly (2023–2025) figures plus the January–September 2026 total from Japan's Ministry of Finance trade statistics for HS 1604.31 (caviar), cross-checked against UN Comtrade. Producers, brands and regulations are based on public information (official sites, local-government material, press and papers) listed under Sources.
Patterns in how caviar is served (sushi, kaiseki, hotels, gifts) come from a list of 750 venues across Japan surveyed from public information. For 570 of them a caviar dish was confirmed from menus, booking-site plans, reviews, hotel sites or press releases; the other 180 come from producers' stockist lists or recipe pages, and regular service was not confirmed. The list merges several surveys and counts entries with the same name and address once. Every venue, with its dishes, brands and sources, is listed on the Restaurants page (in Japanese).
Average CIF value = import value ÷ import volume (JPY per gram). Origin shares are each country's share of total volume and value. CIF is the declared import value including freight and insurance; it excludes duties, consumption tax and retail prices.
The monthly pattern is the average of each month in 2023–2025. 2026 growth compares January–September with the same period of 2025.
Total domestic production (about 1–3 t a year) is an estimate built up from producers' published volumes, with a range for undisclosed output. Items marked "estimated" or "to be confirmed" are not final figures.
The 2026 estimate scales the January–September actual by the October–December share (about 37%). To 2031, three growth rates each for volume and price per gram were applied for five years. All figures are estimates.
Data and documents retrieved on 2026-11-01 (some, such as the tariff schedule, on 2026-10-31). Figures are as of that date and do not reflect later revisions.
Sources for figures and statements (access dates in brackets). Regulatory matters must always be confirmed with a customs broker or regulatory specialist.
How each venue uses caviar is listed on the Restaurants page. Further analysis, such as where it could be sold, can be shown separately.