Since Japan released treated wastewater from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant into the ocean nearly a year ago, the country has been looking for new markets for seafood exports to make up for reduced imports from China as a result of the move. However, the current market substitution is not sufficient, especially the importance of the Chinese market cannot be easily replaced.

In response to the vacancy in the Chinese market, Japan has increased its exports to Hong Kong and the United States, and Thailand has become its latest market development focus. Tokyo-based Japanese seafood retailer Uoriki has formed a joint venture with Thailand's CP Foods to focus on selling Japanese seafood in Thailand. Through this joint venture, seven CP-Uoriki retail stores have been opened in Thailand to sell fresh fish and sushi. The company plans to increase the number of stores in Thailand to 25 by the end of 2024, with plans to expand to 100 within five years.

In addition, Jalux, a global trading company associated with Japan Airlines, along with Tokyo-based Sojitz Corporation, opened a wholesale market in Bangkok in early June 2024 to sell fresh Japanese food, including seafood. Yokohama-based restaurant operator Sprout Investment plans to start a wholesale seafood business in Thailand from August 2024.

According to the annual fisheries White paper released by Japan's Fisheries agency in June, Thailand ranked fifth among importers of Japanese seafood in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2024, accounting for 6.3 percent of Japan's total seafood exports of 3.9 trillion yen ($24.7 billion, 22.7 billion euros). In the last fiscal year, Thailand ranked sixth, behind South Korea, but as South Korea shared China's concerns about treated cooling water emissions, South Korea's imports fell in 2023, making markets such as Thailand even more important.

Notably, Thailand has become the largest market for Japanese skipjack and the second largest market for mackerel after Vietnam. This shows that despite the strong growth momentum of the Thai market, Japan still faces a huge challenge to fully replace the position of the Chinese market.