Japan's new recipe for exports: go global with gourmet delights

Tokyo

JAPAN's export engine built around cars and electronics has stalled, but the future could be using the country's gourmet culture to cast itself as a purveyor of high-quality food.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants to increase agriculture exports by a third in the next three years to 1 trillion yen (S$13.3 billion), although experts say he needs to aim much higher if food is to become a mainstay export for Japan. "Italy uses its food culture to drive food exports, and France is doing the same thing with wine," said Katsunori Nakazawa, head of the export promotion division a…