Foreign media such as ‘South China Morning Post (Scmp)’ and ‘JapanToday’ recently reported that wasabi production in Japan was unstable. One of the main reasons for the instability of wasabi production is global warming. Typhoons, which have become stronger due to global warming, are adversely affecting wasabi farms.
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In an interview with the South China Morning Post, a farmer from Okutama said, “With global warming, the power of recent typhoons is feeling completely different from what it used to be.” Typhoon Hagibis, which hit eastern Japan in 2019, reduced wasabi production by nearly 70% the following year. Since then, farmers have been struggling with concerns months before the typhoon begins. Experts say global warming not only increases the severity of typhoons, but also threatens the growth of plants that must grow at 10 to 15 degrees Celsius year-round.
Another cause of instability in wasabi production is the aging population. Due to the decrease in the rural population, the successor to the wasabi farm is disappearing. According to the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, wasabi production in Japan fell to half of its 2005 output due to global warming and aging population.
Norihito Onishi, sales manager of Sojibo, a soba chain restaurant, said the wasabi supply problem directly affected the business. “In the past, they served a piece of raw wasabi and cold soba, but now it is difficult to offer raw wasabi,” Onishi said. Onishi said there were times when there was no supply of wasabi root at all for the past five to ten years. He continued, “If the unstable supply of wasabi continues as it is now, we need to find a way to continue the business without using raw wasabi.”
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