Japan is impressively clean. Every morning in Tokyo the concrete streets are freshly washed. Chewing gum and smoking on the street are illegal. There isn’t a single public bin to be found in Tokyo. Instead, people take it upon themselves to bring their own rubbish home.

With a population of almost 126m and only 12% of the land suitable for farming, Japan relies on imports for up to 60% of its annual food consumption.

Food imports average some €43bn a year. With the increasing popularity of western diets, especially beef and dairy, and an upcoming EU-Japan trade deal set to slash import tariffs, it’s easy to see why the Irish food and drink industry is interested in the potential of one of Asia’s most lucrative markets.

The EU has been trying to gain increased market access to Japan for years. It has US President Donald Trump to thank. When he announced he would be pulling America out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, it left the Japanese government with a trade gap that Europe was eager to fill.

Japan is only 38% self-sufficient in meat, and imports 730,000t of beef every year, mainly from Australia, so it’s to be expected that other European countries will want a slice of the market.

During a tour of Japanese supermarkets, our guide Kimji told the Irish Farmers Journal she had taken a group of French businessmen on a similar tour a few weeks before us. She said the issue for Ireland, is that countries such as France and Australia have already carved out a slice of the market. Meanwhile, Ireland’s profile remains low.

New Zealand cheddar, French camembert and Australian beef is for sale in most supermarkets in Japan. The only visible Irish product was Guinness even though the shop had labelled Britain as its country of origin.

Japan does not have a clear image of Ireland and its food, because most Japanese people do not know that Ireland exists. When asked if she had ever heard of Ireland, Kimji pulled an apologetic face and said that she’d had to Google the country before we came. I didn’t know you were a country,” Kimji said, “also, your Ireland seems very far away and very cold, I don’t know how you grow beef there.”

Australia on the other hand enjoys a free-trade agreement with Japan, and has marketed its beef so consummately to the Japanese people, that consumers such as Kimji find it hard to believe that imported beef could come from anywhere but the warm and sunny Australian climes.

Allan Morris, managing director of John Stone Fine Foods, highlighted the issues for Ireland. He said: “With all Asian markets, it takes a long time to break into the market. We are going to have to be a lot stronger in the message. All of the retail stores visited where there was beef coming from Australia, the marketing was on point and very clear.”

He believes that Ireland needs to tell a story about what we do.

“Remember we were the first European country to get approval to Japan, so we need to improve on that.”

There is a saying in Japan, that if you are on time you are already late, and the importance of Japanese culture and tradition should never be underestimated in any business transaction.

It takes a notoriously long time to strike a deal with a Japanese business, and they are polite to a fault, with one Irish businessman on the trip saying that they’d rather lead you down a garden path, than risk being rude and tell you directly that they’re not interested in a product.

However, Japanese businesses are also incredibly loyal and Irish exports of cheddar to Japan, while low, are increasing on an annual basis, and the majority of beef tongue in Ireland is now exported to Japan.

While Australia and New Zealand may enjoy a close trading and geographic relationship with the country, the expanding affluent middle class and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics means that there will be an increased future demand for high-quality western food.

While Bord Bia may have provided a helping hand in forming in-roads into Japan, ultimately it will be up to the Irish food companies to invest their time and money in establishing an Irish presence in one of the world’s most lucrative markets.