H. Mori et al. /International Food and Agribusiness Management Review 3 (2000) 189-205 195
Table 4
At-home versus away-from-home consumption of beef and pork, Japan, 1979-96
|
Beef |
Pork | |||
|
At home |
Eat out |
At home |
Eat out | |
|
1979 |
63.3% |
23.3% |
52.3% |
25.1% |
|
1989 |
50.2% |
37.9% |
40.7% |
28.4% |
|
1996 |
41.0% |
50.0% |
40.0% |
29.0% |
Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Division of Meat and Eggs, Japan.
commodities. A SAS 6.12 program that incorporates Nakamura’s (1986) algorithm was used.
The results for rice, fresh fish, beef, sake, beer, and fresh fruits are presented here.
The data analyzed was for at-home food consumption only. The Japanese, like Americans,
are consuming more and more food away from home (Table 4). This trend is more
pronounced in the younger Japanese age groups. The older age groups eat out less frequently
than do their younger counterparts.1 Adequate data were not available to fully incorporate
away-from-home food consumption. Our tentative analysis of eating-out by Mori and Inaba
and Lewis’s approach demonstrates a relatively greater tendency for the younger age groups
to eat out (unpublished material).
4.1. Rice (Fig. 1)
Rice is one of the traditional Japanese foods with a high annual per capita consumption
level. The grand mean from the analysis was 40.96 kilograms per year. Younger (“pure”) age
groups tended to consume less than the older groups. In particular, those between age 20 and
40, with the period and cohort effects controlled, consume 6 to 10 kilograms less than the
grand mean. Those 45 and older consume 6 to 7 kilograms more than the grand mean. These
differences by age may largely reflect changes in eating out. More important are the rather
pronounced cohort effects for rice. Those people born before World War II have a steady,
positive cohort effect of 8 kilograms. Each succeeding cohort group has a lower cohort effect
for rice consumption. The newest cohort, those born between 1987-1991, has a negative 16
kilogram cohort adjustment. The period effects are generally decreasing. This is consistent
with the evidence that rice is an inferior good (Ito et al., 1989; Matsuda & Nakamura, 1993).
As average Japanese income has risen, consumption of animal proteins and fat has increased
steadily and rice consumption has declined accordingly.
The analysis points to a continued decline in Japanese at-home rice consumption. As the
newer cohorts age, and the older ones move out of the population, the negative period effects
will be compounded. Per capita rice consumption should decline at an increasing rate.
4.2. Beef (Fig. 2)
Beef is consumed in relatively small amounts by Japanese households. However, it is one
of the goods that is being consumed in increasing amounts. The grand mean of the analysis
was 3.12 kilograms per year. Younger age groups, with the other effects controlled, consume