Japan's Pleasure Boat Market
The National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) statistics showed that 141.6 Million Americans went boating in 2016, and Japan estimated approximate 600,000 people enjoy boating every year. There were 12 Million registered boats in the U.S. in 2017, in comparison, there were only 230,000 leisure crafts registered in Japan as of the end of 2018. The total number of Japan’s registered boats is less than 30% of Florida’s total count. According to Japan Marine Industry Association (JMIA), the domestic recreational craft market for the 12 months ending March 2019 was about US$ 248 million (JPY 27.3 billion).
US Pleasure Boats’ Exports to Japan
There is no tariff imposed on imported boats and outboard engines from the U.S. According to the U.S. Census/National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA), Japan ranked seventh as the U.S. recreational boat and marine engine exports in 2018.
Japan’s Marina Environment
Japan is surrounded by the sea with the coastline of about 18,500 miles, however, boating and leisure use of watercraft is surprisingly underdeveloped as a market. There are 603 marinas in Japan, mostly located far from downtown area. This includes the innovative Fisharinas (Fish + Marina) in Japan where 32 fishing ports have been adapted to allow private pleasure boat usage, designed to support Japanese fishing port operators and regions.
Market Trend and Observations
Several strong and widely recognized Japanese brands that dominate the Japanese market. Yamaha Motor Corporation and Yanmar Co., Ltd., are well known suppliers of both engines and marine craft, as well as Achilles for inflatable boats and FURUNO for navigation systems and fish finders, etc.
Recently, both Yamaha Motor Corporation and Yanmar Co. have started a “boat sharing” service to exploit new segments of consumers. Yamaha’s boat sharing service is called “Sea-Style” and seeks to enhance the pleasure boats culture among Japanese consumers. Yanmar Marine International (YMI), a group company of Yanmar, invested in GetMyBoat (GMB), a U.S. boat sharing service provider.
Japan’s major cities’ waterfronts tend to be highly industrialized, and the government is encouraging repurposing this valuable asset to encourage more development of leisure lifestyle facilities, including marinas and yacht basins. Further, Japan’s demographics are defined by their aging population, but this demographic group is where wealth is concentrated and they have new leisure time to enjoy. Innovative approaches are needed to grow boating as a leisure activity.
Japan’s Regulatory Environment
There has been some success opening the Japan market for U.S. pleasure boats through negotiation efforts by the International Trade Administration in partnership with the National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA). For example, Japan agreed to introduce a new inspection procedure and to eliminate its requirement for plastic fuel tanks imported from the United States. This new procedure substantially reduced the costly burden of having each fuel tank model individually tested.
However, similar regulatory issues remain. Japan’s challenging and complex regulatory environment for imported marine crafts still exists and remains burdensome on U.S. exporters. CS Japan will monitor cases closely and continue working with both US and Japanese stakeholders to improve the current situation.
For more information please contact Ms.Tetsuko Fujioka at the U.S. Consulate Osaka-Kobe tetsuko.fujioka@trade.gov and for information about doing business in Japan, see the Country Commercial Guide for Japan.