Updated as of October 2005

Share of Cargo-moving Business Declining.

As Japan’s international merchandise trade expanded, international cargo transportation and related services grew steadily from 1970 to 2003. Total cargo carried in and out of Japan by ocean-going vessels in 2003 was 984 million metric tons, up 4.5 percent from 942 million metric tons in 2002.

The bulk of international cargo movement in and out of Japan is still carried by ocean vessels. The total cargo leaving from or arriving at Japanese ports in 2003 amounted to 984 million metric tons, comprised of 169 million metric tons of export cargo and 815 million metric tons of import cargo. Of total ocean cargo, Japanese-registered vessels carried about 7.6 percent in 2003, with 92.4 percent carried by foreign-chartered or -registered vessels. The Japanese share has steadily declined since 1970, when its share was 45.8 percent.

As of 1997, 74 Japanese shipping companies owned ocean-going vessels made up of a 170-vessel merchant fleet with a capacity of 12 million total gross tons. Of these, the five largest companies own 94 vessels or 55 percent of the total.

The Trans-Pacific ocean transportation route between the U.S. and Japan carries the greatest tonnage volume of merchandise of any other single route in the world today. As of 1997, this route was served by 20 international ocean liners, of which three were operated by Japanese companies, two by American companies and 15 by other foreign countries.

The international air cargo carried to and from Japan was 1.33 million tons in 2004, up 10 percent from 1.21 million tons in 2003.

As the Japanese companies’ operations continue to globalize, Japanese international cargo transportation service companies have been following their customers worldwide. Since U.S.-Japanese trade and investment generates the greatest volume of cargo movements, operations related to the U.S.-Japan business have become a significant part of business outside of Japan for Japanese transportation service companies. They provide their customers with freight forwarding, courier services, warehousing, customs brokerage and various other shipping services.

As the recent growth of Japan-China trade including shift of Japanese production in China has been very robust, the movement of consumer products as well as capital goods has been very conspicuous.