Milk may not be the first food most people think of when they think “Japan”. And in fact, the drink isn’t as popular in the country as it is in other parts of the world.
But Japan’s got milk. Too much milk, it would seem. So much, in fact, that this week, the country’s Agricultural Minister, Kaneko Genjiro, asked his fellow countrymen to start chugging the stuff[1].
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ToggleEven Tokyo’s Governor Gets In on the Act
The reason? Japan faces an enormous glut of raw milk. This past summer was less hot than usual, which depressed consumption. And people drank less milk than usual due to the pandemic.
Unfortunately, someone forgot to tell the cows, whose milk production was more plentiful than ever. And butter producers and others who can convert milk into more preservable products are apparently already working at capacity.
The result? If Japan doesn’t start drinking up, its milk producers may find themselves forced to dump up to 5000 tons of product. Kaneko called on people to add another glass to their usual milk-drinking regiment.
Kaneko isn’t the only government official urging people to drink up. This week, Tokyo governor Koike Yuriko got in on the act when, in the middle of a press conference, she pulled out a glass and started chugging.

Do People in Japan Drink Milk?
According to statistics from Japan’s Dairy Industry Association, milk and dairy consumption in Japan is much lower than in the rest of the world[2]. Yearly dairy consumption sits at under 40kg per person per year. Japan drinks 1/3 less milk than the major milk-consuming Western countries, such as Finland, New Zealand, and Ireland. And it consumes about 1/10th of the cheese and butter.

What’s more, the consumption of dairy is on the decline. Milk and dairy products weren’t popular in Japan until the Meiji era, which saw rapid Westernization on multiple fronts. In 1871, an article stating that the Meiji Emperor drank two glasses of milk a day sparked a boom in the beverage[3].
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Raw milk consumption hit a peak around 1996. It’s been on the decline ever since[4]. Between 2008 and 2018, consumption in Japan dropped by 9%[7].
That said, it’s not like no one drinks milk already. Data from 2015 estimated that some 85% of people in Japan consumed milk. Only around 30%, however, made a daily habit out of it[5]. Which is not shocking when you consider that, by common estimates, some 70 to 90% of ethnic Japanese are lactose intolerant[6].
A Sea of Milk – But No Butter?
Apparently, the milk glut isn’t new. As recently as 2020, manufacturers reported that they were over-producing relative to the country’s consumption. What’s funny is that, despite the abundance, there’s one dairy product that’s been in short supply: butter.
As far back as 2016, Japan’s struggled with a shortage of butter. Low supplies have led to shortages and skyrocketing prices. Naturally, the pandemic only made things worse. As in elsewhere across the world, closed schools and shuttered offices meant that more people focused on baking bread and sweets to pass the time. As a result, butter consumption in Japan skyrocketed by 60%[7].
The problem is that Japan’s currently limited in how much butter it can churn out (pun intended). The same centrifugal process can be used to create either butter or powdered milk. For years, Japanese dairy manufacturers have relied on processing plants to convert extra milk into butter or powdered milk. The resulting product is either consumed domestically or exported.
However, there are only a limited number of factories that can do this. One large plant in Kumamoto can process about 4 to 5 tons of milk in a month. Beyond that, only a few additional factories in Japan can turn extra milk into butter.
The Promotions Begin
In response to the milk glut, many companies and individuals are rising to the occasion. For example, convenience store chain Lawson announced that it’s dropping the price of its steamed milk by half, down to a mere 65 yen. The sale begins on New Years’ Eve and will last for two days[8].
Lawson isn’t the only one. Foodie YouTuber Ryuji declared he’ll be sharing milk-based recipes to help people use up the extra. And Omiya, a long-time Western sweets maker based in Tokyo’s Chiyoda Ward, publicly shared the recipe to its famous flan in an effort to drive milk consumption[9].
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Conclusion
With consumption on the decline and people leery of upsetting their stomachs, it’s questionable whether a media campaign can stoke milk consumption in Japan. Unfortunately, the country has few other outlets for its excess dairy. Unless milk drinking takes off in a big way, Japan’s dairy manufacturers may find themselves forced to commit an egregious act of food waste.
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Sources
[1] 牛乳飲んで! 大臣が消費呼びかけ 生乳5000トン大量廃棄のおそれ. FNN
[2] 乳製品の消費はまだまだ少ない日本人. Japan Dairy Industry Association
[3] 日本人が牛乳を飲むようになったのは、いつからですか?Japan Dairy Industry Association
[4] 牛乳の消費動向について. alic
[5] 牛乳の飲用状況. j-milk
[6] 赤ワイン、ヨーグルト…実は日本人の体質に合わない食べ物. Gendai Business
[7] 原料あるのになぜ?バター品薄の訳 余った生乳「受け皿」のはずが… Nishi Nippon
[8] 牛乳店が発端のローソン、牛乳ピンチで半額セール 大みそかと元日はホットミルク半額65円. Fukui Shinbun
[9] 生乳が大量廃棄の恐れ⇨老舗洋菓子店が人気プリンやホットチョコのレシピ公開「力になれれば」. Huffington Post JP