| 1. |
Salt is a substance essential to the survival and sustenance of animals, and is clearly distinguished from others by the fact that there is no alternative to it. Accounting for some 0.7 percent of the human body, salt travels through the blood vessels to facilitate cell metabolism, works to aid digestion in the form of hydrochloric acid in gastric juice, and calms excited nerves and muscles. Since it is discharged every day in urine and perspiration, however, an adult needs to take in about 10-15g a day to survive.
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| 2. |
Those who work in a hot environment need 40-60g a day, because they sweat a lot. Since raw meat contains salt, meat-eaters don’t have to take as much salt as vegetarians do. Such is its necessity for survival that the ancients often put special value on salt, using it in sacred rites and as currency. In all countries in the history of mankind, salt has been an important source of national finance, its sale often monopolized by the state and subject to duty. The English word “salary” comes from the Latin word “salarium (of salt),” and has its origin in the “money to buy salt” given to the soldiers of ancient Rome.
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| 3. |
The chemical formula for pure salt is NaCl, a transparent and colorless regular hexahedron crystal. Since it usually contains water and impurities like magnesium and calcium, however, the crystal is often irregular and tinged with white and other colors. It naturally tastes salty, but has a slightly bitter overtone if the content of magnesium and other impurities is high. It absorbs atmospheric moisture and melts.
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| 4. |
Salt resources can be found everywhere on this planet and are virtually inexhaustible, but can be roughly divided into rock salt, natural saltwater and seawater. Japan doesn’t produce rock salt and, although surrounded by sea, it cannot manufacture salt by solar evaporation due to the high humidity and precipitation. Therefore, the Japanese used to use salt farms to condense seawater, and then had to extract the water in vacuum tubes, etc., to make solid salt. The extra fuel cost meant domestic production of salt was a lot more expensive than overseas. In recent years, salt is primarily manufactured using an electrolytic technique where seawater passes through an ion exchange membrane to extract the salt content, which in seawater is about 3%. About two thirds of the salt produced worldwide comes from rock salt or underground water with a high salt content, and so its crystal grains take on different shapes and colors.
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| 5. |
Of the two chief applications for salt - food and industrial use – this report focuses only on salt for human consumption. In Japan, salt is often used to enhance the palate by adding pungency to food. Besides its direct use as a seasoning, it is used chiefly in the manufacture of soy sauce, pickles, miso (fermented bean paste), and the salting of fish. Other uses include the processing of noodles, butter, cheese, canned foods, and livestock feed.
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| 6. |
In 2001, about 92.7% of the salt destined for the soda industry, which accounts for nearly 80% of domestic salt consumption, was imported. In the same year, 28.6% of the salt for general use was imported. Of this latter category, 124,000 out of 237,000 tons, or 52.3%, of salt for daily living, was imported. The table below shows the percentage of imported salt in the Japanese market.
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1997 |
1999 |
2001 |
| (A) General use |
Domestic |
1,329 |
1,327 |
1,358 |
| |
Imports |
513 |
483 |
544 |
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Total Supply |
1,842 |
1,810 |
1,902 |
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% Imports |
27.9% |
26.7% |
28.6% |
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Salt for daily living |
22 |
74 |
124 |
 |
| (B) Soda industry |
Imports |
7,779 |
7,614 |
6,897 |
Unit: 1,000 tons
Source: Tobacco and Salt Industries Office, Ministry of Finance
Although imports of salt for daily living are a very small part of all the salt imported, they have grown by a factor of 5.6, from 22,000 tons to 124,000 tons, over the last five years.
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| 7. |
Below are salt import partners by use.
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1997 |
1999 |
2001 |
| (A) General use |
Mexico |
257 |
226 |
289 |
| （incl. salt for daily living |
Australia |
256 |
257 |
255 |
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Total |
513 |
483 |
544 |
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| (B)Soda industry |
Mexico |
3,622 |
3,803 |
3,422 |
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Australia |
3,766 |
3,698 |
2,930 |
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India |
103 |
0 |
290 |
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China |
49 |
113 |
255 |
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Chile |
239 |
0 |
0 |
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Total |
7,779 |
7,614 |
6,897 |
Unit: 1,000tons
Source: Tobacco and Salt Industries Office, Ministry of Finance
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| 8. |
In fiscal 2001, the government began publishing the actual imports by partner of salt for daily living alone: of the total imports of 124,000 tons, China accounted for the overwhelming share at 82.7% (102,600 tons), followed by Australia (7,800 tons), USA (2,700 tons), Germany (1,800 tons) and Vietnam (200 tons).
Source: Japan Trade Monthly
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| 9. |
Importation of salt is regulated by the Salt Industry Law and Food Sanitation Law.
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(a) Salt Industry Law |
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The Salt Industry Law went into force with the abolition of the monopoly on salt in April 1997. Following the expiration of provisional measures of the Law on March 31, 2002, it became possible for anyone to import and sell any type of general-use salt (excluding salt for the soda industry) as long as registration with the commissioner of customs was filed after April 1, 2002. |
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(b) Food Sanitation Law |
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The Law mandates that anyone who wishes to import salt as food submit for screening a notification of import of food, etc. and the necessary documents (if it is for a processed food, production flow chart, recipe of materials, etc.) to the imported food monitoring desk of the quarantine station that has jurisdiction over the airport/port where it will clear customs, providing that notification is not necessary for the import of material salt even though it is for food processing. |
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| 10. |
Marketing of salt is regulated by the Salt Industry Law, the Food Sanitation Law, the JAS Law, the Measurement Law, the Act against Unjustifiable Premiums and Misleading Presentations, and the Health Promotion Law (formerly the Nutrition Improvement Law). Due care needs to be taken.
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| 11. |
In Germany, “to eat salt with someone” means “to live under the same roof.” In the Old Testament, too, can be found the phrase “covenant of salt,” meaning that salt brings an eternal bond. As these show, salt has long been a symbol of friendship in the West. In Japan, there was one feudal lord who sent salt to an enemy whose province was in need of it, because he wanted to fight the enemy openly and fairly.
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| 12. |
One folk belief in Japan is that limiting salt intake leads to good health. They say things like, “Too much salt intake gives you high blood pressure,” “You shouldn’t take in more than 10g of salt a day,” and “You should accustom your child to lightly salted food early on.” These maxims, though, are not right. If you have hypertension, your blood pressure could rise with too much salt consumption, but if your blood pressure is normal, a little excess salt intake won’t raise your blood pressure. Even if you have hypertension, limiting salt isn’t enough if the blood pressure doesn’t start to drop after a few months.
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| 13. |
Since the monopoly on salt by the Japan Tobacco & Salt Public Corporation was abolished with the Salt Industry Law in 1997, the salt business has been significantly deregulated, and a variety of salts with different characteristics and manufacturing methods from both Japan and abroad are consumed in private homes. Behind this, and aside from the liberalization of imports, are higher consumer aspirations for gourmet foods, health and the “real thing,” along with greater interest in taste. An increasing number of consumers opt for natural salt, aware that it contains more minerals and magnesium, etc.
In the food service industry, likewise, certain chefs use different types of salt for different cuisines, and a greater variety of dishes using natural salt have appeared at hamburger, sushi, Chinese noodle and ice cream places. Sun-dried salt and rock salt are selling well, even though they are pricy. Another trend has miso and sauce manufacturers often underlining the fact that they use a popular brand salt in their promotions.
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| 14. |
After the abolition of the salt monopoly, the number of salt manufacturers in Japan increased from 280 to 390, but those with faster sales feature sweet or mild flavors, and employ unique manufacturing techniques. Some of the popular production locations include Hyogo, Kochi, Ehime, Yamaguchi, Nagasaki, Okinawa and Izu Oshima Island. Refined salt, on the other hand, can be made at a lower cost using the ion exchange membrane, but it often lacks relish and all tastes the same, since bitterns such as the minerals in seawater are filtered out, too. Some department stores have set up new counters where they sell as many as 60 different types of salt from Japan and abroad, and go so far as to sell it by weight for customer services. Statistics show that nearly 80% of those who purchase at these places return to buy the same type of salt.
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| 15. |
Among popular imported salts are: rock salt from the German Alps; rock salt and sun-dried salt from Sicily; sun-dried salt from the Bretagne Peninsula; sun-dried salt from Christmas Island, Republic of Kiribati; and sun-dried salt from the south coast of China.
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