Imports, Exports and Foreign Businesses in Japan

This chapter discusses imports, exports, and foreign firms’ investments in Japan. Imports to Japan total to about US$ 812 billion and exports from Japan total to about US$ 697 billion in the year of 2013. Japan consists of two economically vivid areas, Kanto consisting of Tokyo, Saitama, Kawasaki and Yokohama; and the Kansai area consisting of Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe. Both areas are discussed separately. It will be shown that Chinese trade has a bigger impact on Kansai than on Kanto area. In the next part, information about foreign affiliated firms doing business in Japan will be demonstrated by expanding on Japanese External Trade Organization data. Kansai will also be discussed separately here. At the end of the chapter, some examples of success stories will be given of foreign affiliated firms located in the Kansai region.