A food product clears Japan’s import notification without trouble, and then sits unsold because the label does not carry what the Food Labeling Act requires. The two systems check different things: the Food Sanitation Act’s import notification is about whether the food itself is safe to bring in, and the Food Labeling Act is about whether the label on the pack tells a Japanese consumer what they need to know before they buy it. Both apply to the same shipment, and a compliant formula with a non-compliant label still cannot go on a Japanese shelf.
💬 Sunsho Trade is a Japanese-managed trading company in Ho Chi Minh City, acting as sales agent and distributor for Japan for food products from any country. Send us the current label and we will check it against Japan’s rules.
The importer’s name and address, on every pack
Every food sold in Japan must carry the name and address of the party responsible for it in the Japanese market — for an imported product, that is the importer, printed in Japanese on the label.
This is separate from the manufacturer’s details, which are also required. A label that names only an overseas factory, with no Japanese importer named and reachable, does not meet the requirement. Because the importer’s identity has to be printed on the physical label before the goods are shipped, this is one detail that has to be settled with the Japanese-side buyer earlier than most others — after the label is printed is too late to change who is named.
Country of origin: a different rule for a whole product than for an ingredient
A food imported in its finished, packaged form is labelled with its country of origin as the country of import; a food manufactured in Japan is instead labelled with the origin of its largest-weight raw material, under the separate ingredient country-of-origin rule.
These are two different labelling obligations, and which one applies depends on where the last processing happened:
| How the product reaches the shelf | Which origin rule applies | What is stated |
|---|---|---|
| Packaged and finished overseas, imported ready for sale | Country of origin (原産国名) | The country where the product was finished |
| Imported in bulk, repacked into retail packaging in Japan without further processing | Country of origin (原産国名) | The country where the product was finished, even though repacking happened in Japan |
| Manufactured in Japan using imported raw materials | Ingredient country of origin (原料原産地名) | The origin of the raw material with the largest weight in the recipe |
For a product genuinely finished overseas and simply repacked into Japanese retail packaging without any processing, the origin labelled is still the country where it was finished — repacking alone does not make it a Japanese-origin product. Get this distinction confirmed with whoever manages labelling in Japan before print, because using the wrong of the two formats is a common cause of a label being rejected at the notification stage.
Ingredients and additives, in descending order by weight
The ingredient list states every ingredient in descending order by weight, with food additives listed separately from raw ingredients and named by their permitted Japanese designation.
Japan requires additives to be identified — by name, or in some categories by a use classification such as a preservative or a colourant, depending on the additive — rather than folded silently into the general ingredient list. An additive used in the product but omitted from the translated label, even where it was declared correctly on the original packaging, is one of the more common reasons a food import notification takes longer than expected: the quarantine station inspector is checking the declared additive list against what the manufacturing documentation says is actually used, and a mismatch between the two documents raises a question regardless of whether the additive itself is permitted.
💬 Translating an ingredient and additive list correctly for the Japanese label is easier to get right before the first print run than after. Send us the source-language label and the manufacturing spec and we will flag any gap.
Allergens: the current mandatory list, and cashew joining it in 2026
Japan’s allergen labelling rule names nine mandatory allergens for which a product’s presence must be declared, after cashew nut became the ninth on 1 April 2026, with a transition period for products made or imported up to 31 March 2028.
The mandatory list (特定原材料) requires a clear declaration whenever the allergen is present as an ingredient, distinct from Japan’s longer, non-mandatory recommended list which covers additional allergens on a best-efforts basis rather than a legal requirement.
| Status | Allergen | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Mandatory | Egg, milk, wheat, buckwheat, peanut, shrimp, crab, walnut | Walnut became mandatory from 1 April 2025, after a transition period |
| Mandatory from 1 April 2026 | Cashew nut | Transition period for processed foods made or imported up to 31 March 2028 |
| Recommended, not mandatory | A longer list of additional allergens (for example pistachio, added alongside the cashew amendment) | Declaration is encouraged, not legally required |
Checked against the published texts on 25 September 2026.
For a product that already contains cashew and is being labelled now, using the transition period to delay declaration is a compliance choice with a real deadline behind it, not a way to avoid the requirement — plan the label change well before 1 April 2026 rather than at the edge of the transition window.
Nutrition facts: five figures, on nearly every packaged food
A packaged food sold in Japan carries a nutrition facts panel stating energy, protein, fat, carbohydrate, and salt equivalent, calculated per serving or per defined quantity of the product.
Salt equivalent, rather than sodium content alone, is the figure Japan’s format requires — a label that states sodium without converting it to salt equivalent does not meet the Japanese format even where the underlying analysis is correct. Some product categories carry a narrow exemption from the nutrition panel requirement, but a general packaged food intended for retail sale should assume the panel is required unless specifically confirmed otherwise for that category.
| Element | What is stated |
|---|---|
| Energy | Per serving or per stated quantity |
| Protein | Per serving or per stated quantity |
| Fat | Per serving or per stated quantity |
| Carbohydrate | Per serving or per stated quantity |
| Salt equivalent | Calculated from sodium content, not sodium alone |
Putting the label together before the first shipment
Every element above sits on the same physical label, so a translation and layout pass done once, checked against the current Japanese rule, saves a reprint later — reprinting packaging after a shipment has already been produced is one of the more expensive corrections in this process.
- Importer’s name and address, in Japanese
- Correct origin format for how the product actually reaches the shelf — finished-product origin or ingredient origin
- Full ingredient and additive list, descending by weight, matching the manufacturing specification exactly
- Every mandatory allergen present, using the current nine-item list including cashew nut
- Nutrition facts panel with salt equivalent, not sodium alone
For how plant quarantine and material-specific rules apply to non-food goods from Vietnam, see exporting Vietnamese handicrafts to Japan; for the import notification process this labelling sits alongside, see Japan’s food import notification procedure.
Where Sunsho Trade fits, and where it does not
We check a label against Japan’s current labelling rules before a shipment is printed and packed, and take the product to Japanese buyers; who is named as importer on the label, and who therefore carries the labelling duty, is agreed case by case.
Sunsho Trade’s Japanese management works with buyers through our own network in Japan and negotiates in Japanese. We support the label translation and check against the current Food Labeling Act requirements, alongside the export documents and logistics from the country of origin. We will tell you plainly if a label needs correction before a print run, rather than after one.
💬 Have a food product ready for the Japanese market and want the label checked before you print? Send the current label and manufacturing spec, or see what Japanese buyers check before they commit.
Frequently asked questions
1. Whose name has to appear on the label of an imported food sold in Japan?
The importer’s name and address, in Japanese, alongside the manufacturer’s details. A label naming only the overseas manufacturer, with no Japanese importer, does not meet the requirement.
2. Does repacking an imported food in Japan change its country-of-origin label?
No, if the food itself was finished overseas and only repacked into retail packaging in Japan without further processing — the country of origin stated is still where the product was finished. The separate ingredient-origin rule applies only to food actually manufactured in Japan.
3. Is cashew nut a mandatory allergen in Japan now?
Yes. Cashew nut has been mandatory since 1 April 2026, so the list is now egg, milk, wheat, buckwheat, peanut, shrimp, crab, walnut and cashew nut. Processed foods made or imported up to 31 March 2028 may still follow the old rule during the transition period, but labelling cashew as soon as possible is the expected practice.
4. Does every packaged food need a nutrition facts panel?
Most packaged foods sold at retail do, showing energy, protein, fat, carbohydrate and salt equivalent. Some categories carry a narrow exemption, so confirm the category’s status rather than assuming either way.
5. Can food additives be listed together with the other ingredients?
No. Additives are identified separately from raw ingredients, by name or by a permitted use classification depending on the additive, and the declared additive list must match what the manufacturing documentation states is actually used.
Checked on 12 October 2026.
Sources: Consumer Affairs Agency, Food Labeling Act and Food Labeling Standards guidance (caa.go.jp); Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, ingredient country-of-origin labelling guidance (maff.go.jp); Consumer Affairs Agency notices on the cashew nut and pistachio amendments to the specified raw materials list.