Japan’s cut flower imports peaking
Tokyo Customs officers at Narita International Airport in Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, were busy with customs clearance work for flowers imported from South American and Southeast Asian countries for gifts and other uses. Narita handles the largest amount of such imported flowers by value among airports in the country.
According to Nanba Toshimasa, a 53-year-old employee at Classic Japan Ltd., the flower importer mainly brings into the country roses for gifts and chrysanthemums to place on graves in this period.
The company handles 15%–20% of its annual imports in March.
Consumption of cut flowers remains flat, but the proportion of imports for such flowers is rising due to a lack of successors for domestic producers.
Source: www.nippon.com