Korea won Japan's skincare market. France is winning a different war. A deep-dive into Japan Customs data at HS9 level reveals what industry reports miss.

Japan is smoking less. Tobacco imports are at a 25-year high. Both are true... The explanation will surprise you.

It is easy to overlook fertilizers when thinking about Japan’s trade. Cars, chips, and precision machinery tend to steal the spotlight. Yet the customs category HS3102, which covers nitrogenous fertilizers such as urea and ammonium nitrate, quietly explains a great deal about how Japan feeds itself and how global shocks ripple into local markets.

In a world where trade flows often swing wildly due to geopolitical tensions or environmental mandates, Japan's imports of medicaments under HS3004 stand out as a beacon of consistency.