Japan's mineral resources

For a prime industrialized nation, Japan is surprisingly poor in natural resources and has to import most of its fuel and other resources for its manufacturing and food industry. Japan imports more fish, its key natural resource, than it exports and is only self-sufficient with select industrial mineral resources such as limestone.

The Country

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. To the east, it faces the North Pacific, and to the west, the Sea of Japan, across which lies the Korean Peninsula and Siberia. Japan is one of the world’s most populous nations, and 98 percent of its more than 123 million inhabitants are ethnic Japanese. In 2023, Japan’s gross domestic product was $5.8 trillion. However, because of its large population, Japan’s per-capita annual income was $46,300 in 2023.

Japan comprises more than three thousand individual islands. The most important are, from north to south, the four main islands of Hokkaidō, Honshū, Shikoku, and Kyūshū. The four main islands have steep, inaccessible, forested mountains, including Mount Fuji near Tokyo, which is Japan’s landmark. Earthquakes are common. Agriculture is generally limited to three narrow coastal plains around Tokyo and Ōsaka, with only about 15 percent of the land usable for agriculture. Japan’s key natural resources are fish and a few industrial minerals. Thus, the resource-poor but industrialized country is a huge net importer of natural resources. Since the early 2020s, Japan has also increased its strategic focus on securing overseas energy resources and expanding renewable capacity to mitigate its long-standing dependence on imported fuels.

Fish

Fish is Japan’s key natural resource. Fish, together with rice, has sustained the population of Japan for centuries, losing its importance only in the early twenty-first century as the Japanese have changed their diets. Consequently, the volume of fish and shellfish caught by coastal, offshore, and inland Japanese fisheries as well as produced by Japanese marine aquaculture declined by more than one-half to about 3.64 million US tons (3.3 million metric tons) by 2016, down from a peak of 14.11 million US tons (12.8 million metric tons) in 1984. This trend continues, as Japan produced 4.08 million US tons (3.7 million metric tons) of fish in 2023, down from 5.3 million US tons (4.8 million metric tons) in 2014. Official statistics from Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF) indicate that total fish and aquaculture production in fiscal year (FY) 2024 was approximately 3.63 million metric tons (about 4 million US tons), confirming the long-term downward trend in fish production and representing a year-over-year decline of around 5 percent compared with 2023. This decline has been attributed to the fact that only 30 percent of Japan’s fish production comes from aquaculture, as aquaculture is responsible for the majority of the increase in fish production worldwide since 1984. The decline is also attributed to global warming, which has made it difficult for some fish species to survive. According to MAFF, Japan’s wild fish catch in 2022 was 4.02 million US tons (3.65 million metric tons), a decrease of 7.5 percent from 2021. Despite the decline, as of 2023, Japan remained one of the world’s top countries for fish production. Preliminary government assessments released in 2024 indicate that overall marine catch volumes remained broadly stable compared with 2023 levels, though species composition continued to shift.

Mackerel, Japanese anchovy, skipjack, scallops, and saury are key fish and shellfish species caught along the coast of Japan and within Japan’s maritime exclusive economic zone (EEZ), which covers approximately 1.72 million square miles (4.47 million square kilometers), established by the United Nations in 1995. Bonito, Japanese common squid, salmon, and trout are also caught in significant numbers.

In addition to catching domestic Japanese fish resources, Japan sustains a long-distance fishing fleet. This fishing fleet operates by treaty in the maritime EEZs of other nations. The catch from the neighboring EEZs of South Korea, Russia, and China is counted among Japan’s domestic catch, slightly overestimating domestic fish haul. However, the prime targets of the long-distance fleet are EEZs of Pacific Ocean countries farther away than Asia, as well as high seas. Here, the target is high-value predatory fish, particularly tuna. The contribution to Japan’s overall catch by the distance fleet has declined from accounting for as much as 20 percent in 1985, when it added 2.31 million US tons (2.1 million metric tons), to just under 10 percent in 2005, when it contributed to approximately 600,000 US tons (544,000 metric tons). This contribution remained at 10 percent in 2019. Statistics often use the total number for all fish caught and harvested by Japanese fisheries, including those from foreign and open seas. However, fish from the waters of Japan (Japan’s own natural resources) accounted for most of the total.

By 2023, fish and shellfish caught by the Japanese in their own waters accounted for a substantial share—often cited at around 10 percent—of the world’s supply of fishery products for human consumption. Even though Japan used 85 percent of the fish and shellfish it caught in its waters for this purpose, and only 15 percent for fertilizer and animal feed, this could not satisfy the demand of Japanese consumers. Consequently, Japan imported one-half of its fishery products for domestic human consumption from other countries. Reflecting the Japanese trend to import low-value fish products and export high-value fish, rather than using all of its catch at home first before adding imports, some 16 percent of Japanese fish used for human food was exported and the resulting lack made up by cheaper imports.

Reflecting Japan’s primary use of its fish for human food, the country imported more than 80 percent of fish products used for feed and fertilizer. Of the 15 percent of its own catch Japan used in this secondary category, only 10 percent was exported.

Aware of problems haunting its fishing industry, such as depletion of resources, marine environmental degradation, aging fish industry population, global climate change, and commercial challenges to the small-scale operators constituting the bulk of the Japanese fishing enterprises, in 2020 Japan revised its Fisheries Law to include a goal of increasing the country’s annual haul to 4.89 million US tons (4.44 million metric tons) by 2030. This was the amount of fish produced in 2010.

Lumber

Even though 66 percent of Japan is covered by forests for a total of about 96,525 square miles (250,000 square kilometers), the importance of lumber as a natural resource has declined significantly. Key reasons have been the difficulty of accessing much of the forested terrain; the use of forests to conserve headwater and prevent soil runoff; the implementation of strict and growing environmental protection; and an underdeveloped, mostly part-time and small-scale lumber industry.

While the total forested area of Japan remained remarkably constant between 1980 and 2010, its use as a source of lumber shifted considerably. Protected forest area rose steadily from 30,888.16 square miles (80,000 square kilometers) in 1985 to 43,629.53 square miles (113,000 square kilometers) in 2005. This was done primarily to increase the area used for headwater conservation and soil runoff prevention, which are serious environmental problems in Japan that interfere with the use of forests as lumber sources. Massive reforestation, or artificial forest regeneration, was undertaken in the 1980s, peaking with the planting of 617.76 square miles (1,600 square kilometers) in 1980; this number decreased to 109.66 square miles (284 square kilometers) by 2004, as the plan’s goals were within sight. As a result, by 2000, nearly 80 percent of the then existing, once heavily harvested needle-leaved tree forests of Japan were the result of reforestation, compared to 98 percent of broad-leaved trees still growing in natural forests.

Production of logs fell by approximately one-half from 1.165 billion cubic feet (33 million cubic meters) in 1985 to 565.03 million cubic feet (16 million cubic meters) in 2005. Correspondingly, the final annual cutting area for lumber in Japan fell from 1,119.7 square miles (2,900 square kilometers) in 1985 to just 113.9 square miles (295 square kilometers) in 2004. Nevertheless, this indicated a more efficient yield of lumber per harvested area.

In 2004, the majority of logs came from the softwood needle-leaved trees of Japanese cedar, yielding 264.86 million cubic feet (7.5 million cubic meters); Japanese cypress, yielding 70.63 million cubic feet (2 million cubic meters); and Japanese larch, white fir, and Yezo spruce, accounting for a combined yield of 95.35 million cubic feet (2.7 million cubic meters). The once heavily harvested Japanese red and black pines accounted for only 28.25 million cubic feet (800,000 cubic meters), down from 134.2 million cubic feet (3.8 million cubic meters) in 1985. Hardwood from a variety of broad-leaved trees yielded 88.29 million cubic feet (2.5 million cubic meters), or 16 percent of the total log yield of 550.91 million cubic feet (15.6 million cubic meters) for 2004. Of this lumber, the vast majority, 409.65 million cubic feet (11.6 million cubic meters), was used for saw logs, with just 130.66 million cubic feet (3.7 million cubic meters) turned into wood chips and a negligible 30.37 million cubic feet (860,000 cubic meters) used for veneer sheets and plywood. This reflected the trend toward high-end products by the Japanese lumber industry.

Lumber production in Japan continued to decline through the mid-2010s, due to factors such as a declining workforce and increased interest in conservation, and through 2015 Japan imported far more lumber than it produced. However, growing demand in China revitalized the industry. By 2017, the value of Japanese lumber exports hit its highest level in almost four decades. In 2020, lumber exports were valued at $34.62 million in nominal terms, up from $19.06 million in 2000.

Limestone

In the early twenty-first century, Japan was one of the world’s leading producers of limestone, an industrial commodity essential for the construction industry. Limestone’s key ingredient is the mineral calcite, chemically defined as calcium carbonate (CaCO₃). As the calcite in limestone comes primarily from calcified marine organisms, Japan benefits from its island nature, leading to rich calcite deposits.

In 2015, Japan’s limestone production was 157.47 million US tons (142.9 million metric tons). Almost all of Japan’s limestone was used domestically, accounting for 173.28 million US tons (157.2 million metric tons). Unlike the situation with other natural resources in Japan, because of the high volume of limestone production, there were eight industrial-size companies involved as of 2015. That year the leading Japanese limestone producer was Taiheiyo Cement Company Limited. With 50.71 million US tons (46 million metric tons) of limestone extracted per year, Taiheiyo Cement produces about one-third of Japan’s limestone, operating in seven prefectures on all four main islands of the nation.

Japan’s substantial limestone production gave the country a rare self-sufficiency for a natural resource by 2009, and this self-sufficiency continued into the mid-2020s. By 2023, the country produced 132.43 million US tons (120.14 million metric tons) of limestone, a decrease from 163.14 million US tons (148 million metric tons) in 2014.

Silica sand and stone

As of 2015, Japan was one of the key producers of silica sand and stone in Asia and along the western Pacific rim. Chemically defined as silicon dioxide, or SiO₂, silica has been abundantly mined and quarried in Japan. From 2011 to 2016, the annual yield of silica sand was about 3.2 million US tons (2.9 million metric tons). In the same years, about 1.9 million US tons (1.7 million metric tons) of quartzite were produced annually. Silica was the second most important of Japan’s industrial minerals. In 2023, Japan produced 2.19 million US tons (1.99 million metric tons) of silica sand, down from 2.22 million US tons (2.01 million metric tons) in 2022.

Gold

Japan once was self-sufficient in supplying gold for its industrial, craft, and monetary demands. However, by 2006, Japan’s gold mining industry had shrunk to just one gold mine, down from fifteen major mines in 1986. The reason for this decline was primarily a depletion of ore reserves in old mines and the high cost of domestic gold mining and exploration compared to cheaper imports of gold ingots and gold powder for refining in Japan.

Thus, in 2015, all of Japan’s gold mining took place at the Hishikari Mine of Sumitomo Metal Mining Company, located in Kagoshima Prefecture at the southern tip of Japan’s southernmost main island of Kyūshū. There, a small staff produced about 16,976 pounds (7,700 kilograms) of gold each year.

Japan used about 440,924 pounds (200,000 kilograms) of gold in 2006, one-half of it for electrical, electronic, and communication applications. This meant that domestic gold mining provided only 5 percent of the gold resources needed to fulfill this annual demand, with the rest having to be imported, either as ingots or as gold ore powder. In 2022, Japan imported $319 million in gold, while it exported only $10.9 billion, largely in the form of refined gold products processed from imported raw gold.

Other Resources

Surprisingly for a major industrialized nation, Japan has very limited natural resources in general and even less indigenous mineral resources. Most of those other resources the country possesses are industrial minerals such as feldspar and related materials, iodine, and pyrophyllite, which is a talc-related material. Correspondingly, the mining sector contributed only a minuscule 0.11 percent to Japan’s gross domestic product in 2005. While mining’s contribution increased to 5.49 percent in 2019, annual growth was forecasted to be only 0.43 percent from 2024 to 2029.

As a result of its own resource poverty, Japan was one of the largest importers of minerals and intermediate mineral products, including crude oil, to sustain its impressive chemical, ferrous, and nonferrous metals-manufacturing and power-generating industries. Securing the natural resources the country needs for its advanced manufacturing base and satisfying the changing food demands of its population remained key concerns of Japanese natural resource policies.

Japanese agriculture, limited to about 15 percent of the country’s land because of the general hostility of the terrain, is of remarkable intensity and obtains one of the highest yields from the soil in the world. Nevertheless, together with a shift from rice and vegetables toward a more meat-oriented national diet, Japan became a heavy importer of foodstuffs beginning in the final decades of the twentieth century.

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