NAGOYA - Shipments of domestic soy sauce fell to 670,159 kiloliters in 2025, the lowest level in 75 years and roughly half of the peak in 1973, due to the westernization of the Japanese diet, a soy sauce industry association said Monday.
Other ready-to-use condiments that contain soy sauce as a base, such as "tsuyu" soup base and "tare" sauces, have also become more common, further reducing demand for soy sauce as a raw ingredient in home cooking.
"People recently have been prioritizing convenience and efficiency," a spokesperson from food manufacturer Yamamori Inc., known for its tsuyu products, said regarding a growing tendency to avoid creating condiments at home from scratch.
While total shipments slipped 1.6 percent from the previous year, exports of soy sauce have been on the rise, climbing 9.6 percent in 2025 from a year earlier to around 52,000 kiloliters, according to Japanese soy sauce association Nihon Shoyu Kyokai, which has been holding seminars to advise small and medium-sized businesses about shipping abroad.
"We plan to strengthen our framework for supporting exports," said Yasumasa Tajima, managing director of the group. Domestically, "we must focus on appealing especially to younger generations in the mid- to long-term."
