TED Case Studies
Chopsticks and Trade
CASE NUMBER: 237
CASE MNEMONIC: CHOPSTIK
CASE NAME: Japan Chopsticks and Wood
A. IDENTIFICATION
1. Issue
Japan is the top importer of tropical hardwood in the world. It
imports nearly five times the value of timber of its closest rival,
South Korea. China, Taiwan and Italy round out the top five.
Japan has imported hardwood from southeast Asia and other timber
from the temperate zones of the United States and Canada for
decades. The wood has been used for many products including
chopsticks, plywood for concrete forms and chips for making paper.
Because of the ease with which substitutes for these products can
be found, this is a waste of a precious resource.
2. Description
Rain forests are a source of highly valuable tropical hardwood
including mahogany, mangrove, and rosewood which, for years, have
been wantonly logged. Hardwoods not only provide the
industrialized world with beautiful lumber with which to fashion
ornate pieces of furniture, they also serve to nourish the
economies of the host countries. The temperate forests of North
America are also highly valued for wood products and building
material.
The environmental element of this case is very serious on a global
scale. The rain forests are disappearing at the alarming rate of
20 million hectares a year, an area roughly the size of Great
Britain. If consumption continues at its present rate, valuable,
non-replenishable resources such as the much-needed rain and
temperate forests will vanish forever. Host countries are
indiscriminately logging their forests or allowing them to be
logged. However, industrialized nations also bear responsibility
for the destruction of the forests by creating a demand for the
timber. Mardon posits that "discriminating consumption is the one
of the best ways to encourage discriminating logging."
Nearly all the countries of Southeast Asia are well-endowed with
large tracts of rainforests. Heavy exporting in recent years has
ruined large portions of the Philippines and Thailand. Soil
erosion has occurred which has washed away the topsoil that made
the land valuable for farming. Malaysia also suffers from this.
It exports huge amounts of wood to its number one customer, Japan.
In the early 1980s, the government favored Japan, particularly to
support its industrialization efforts and to secure external
financing. It comes as no surprise that Malaysia exports large
amounts of its forests to Japan.
There are other reasons which a nation might decrease its imports
of tropical hardwoods. Fear of using up the worldþs rain forests
and expediting global warming is a major cause of concern. The
forestsþ existence contributes to favorable weather patterns and
helps to allay global warming. Finding substitutes for tropical
hardwoods for construction purposes will also contribute to a
decrease in their importation. The worldþs forests are being
squandered for commodities which could be produced using others
substances. It is difficult to believe that, as the world enters
the twenty-first century, there is no viable substitute for wood.
Japan is finding just how costly it is to be green. It has been a
big contributor to projects of reforestation and to other
environmental organizations including Friends of the Earth and the
World Wildlife Fund. Swinbanks claims that as proof of its
environmental sensitivity "Japan was the first to step forward with
a handsome contribution of $2 million to finance projects of
reafforestation, sustainable management, and economic/market
information gathering." Swinbanks rails against the United States
and other nations for delaying these projects because of late dues
payments.
In terms of trade, the timber industry is economically crucial in
Southeast Asia, Central and South America, the Pacific Northwest
and British Columbia. Having grown up in a region of Washington
State which is highly dependent on logging, I am well aware of the
economic importance of the timber trade. The tension created by a
vanishing resource and the jobs it creates is a real problem. The
resource will eventually vanish and the employment related to it
will disappear as well. Furthermore, for millennia, rain forests
have provided a means of subsistence for thousands of tribes and
indigenous peoples who consider them their home. Not only are jobs
vanishing, but people groups are endangered as well.
Japan desires to use hardwoods for disposable chopsticks, concrete
forms, chips (to make pulp) and other specialized items such as
furniture. It must import wood for these products from
forest-abundant nations. The point of contention in this case is
that the products for which Japan is using the wood for are
questionable uses for the wood. Surely there are substitutable
resources that Japan could use to make chopsticks and concrete
forms instead of using the almost irreplaceable trees. There
exists no import ban on the wood, moreover there is an added
element in that many jobs in Southeast Asia and western North
America depend on the timber trade. Whole communities pit their
survival on the world's demand for the dwindling timber supply.
Since the 1980s, Japan has been experiencing a housing boom which
has contributed its usage of tropical hardwoods. Much of the wood
is used for products such as forms for concrete pours, high quality
paper and even cardboard. This is gross wastage of a valuable
resource. Johnstone states that "Japan is currently the largest
consumer of tropical timber in the world. Most is imported as logs
which are turned into plywood, often for use in the building
industry."
David Swinbanks, who contributed an article for Nature, complains
that "Japan gobbles up nearly half the world's tropical timber
trade, much of the imports being wasted on disposable chopsticks
(11,000 million pairs a year) and paneling for concrete." The
consensus is that Japan is not making good use of the timber that
it is importing. How can Japan justify using timber, to make
chopsticks which it disposes by the millions everyday? Some of the
chopsticks Japan uses are actually made in the United States which
makes little difference with respect to the misuse of timber. In
light of Japan's considerable technological prowess, it is
plausible that it would invent a substitute for hardwood in terms
of using it for forms, cardboard or even chopsticks. Nevertheless,
according to Johnstone, until recently there has been very little
concern shown in Japan by the conservationists toward the
destruction of the tropical and temperate forests.
Though Japan is 80% mountainous, much of which is covered with
various types of trees, it has decided not to use its own natural
resources. Japan has determined that other countriesþ resources
can be purchased and used without it incurring substantial
long-term harm. Japan has targeted countries endowed with large
tracts of forest whose economies in localized areas are dependent
on exporting timber.
4. Related Cases
MALAY case
INDONES case
THAILOG case
TEAK case
AFRICA case
BRAZIL case
Keyword Clusters
(1): Product = WOOD
(2): Bio-geography = TROPical
(3): Environmental Problem = DEFORestation
5. Author: Jay A. Schmidt
II. LEGAL Filters
6. Discourse and Status
Disagreement
1.5
In the case if Japan and its questionable usage of hardwoods,
there has been no legal action taken. The protests have been
informal, preying upon Japanþs environmental consciousness.
7. Forum and Scope
Regional type Organizations
Non-governmental Organizations
3
8. Decision Breadth
5+
9. Legal Standing
There do not seem to be any agreements at this time. The
governments are still trying to set a course of action. Much of
the action taken thus far has been by private organizations and
concerns.
III. GEOGRAPHIC Filters
10. Geography
a. Geographic Domain: Asia
b. Geographic Site: East Asia
c. Geographic Impact: Japan
11. Sub-National Factors
12. Type of Habitat
Trop
IV. TRADE Filters
13. Type of Measure
QUOTA, IMTAX, OMA
14. Direct vs. Indirect Impact
Direct
15. Relation of Trade Measure to Resource Impact
a. Directly Related to Product: YES
A quota or import ban would directly limited the importation
of raw logs into Japan. The timber is usually transported to Japan
in the form of raw logs and there it is milled into various
products. One notable exception is the chopsticks manufactured in
Minnesota and sent to Japan.
b. Indirectly Related to Product: YES
c. Not Related to Product: YES
d. Related to Process: NO
16. Trade Product Identification
Wood Products: Raw, Intermediate and Finished
17. Economic Data
Japan consumes 130 million waribashi (disposable chopsticks)
everyday. There is a company in Hibbing, MN which is expected to
produce about 7 million chopsticks daily. This community, like
many others in the United States, Canada and Southeast Asia, base
their subsistence on the timber trade. The survival of these
communities is dependent on the demand for the timber. In the case
of the plant in Minnesota the question remains as to whether
converting trees into chopsticks is a responsible use of timber.
18. Impact of Trade Restriction
There could be legislation enacted in the mid-to-late 1990s
which would not be sector specific but rather issue-specific. It
would address general wastage of natural resources. This is not an
easy area to legislate.
19. Industry Sector
Durable Manufacturing
Lumber and Wood Products [WOOD]
20. Exporters and Importers
Case Exporter: Malaysia
Case Importer: Japan
Leading Exporters (US$):
Leading Importers (US$): Japan
V. Environment Filters
21. Environment Problem type
Habitat
Deforestation [DEFOR]
22. Species
Mangrove, Mahogany, Rosewood, (Alder, Fir, Pine other species
are located in the temperate forests of the United States and
Canada.)
23. Resource Impact
The regrowth of the forests would take at least fifty years.
To regrow the kind of old-growth timber that is presently being
harvested could take several centuries.
24. Urgency of the Problem
To restore the forests to the condition they were before the
intensive logging would require hundreds of years. The highly
valued old-growth timber takes years to grow. Though states,
provinces and countries are making concerted efforts at
tree-planting, the effort started far too late and has not assumed
the urgency needed to ensure posterity the kind of rich forests
that are enjoyed today.
Lifetime of species could be as short as twenty and as long as
a thousand or more.
25. Substitutes
RECYC, SYNTH, CONSV
Japan could easily adapt reusable chopsticks. They are used
in the home and in eating establishments so why not everywhere
else?
I. Other Factors
Culture
The cultural element in this case is delicate. The Japanese
revere rice as a part of their national culture. As of yet, they
do not import rice even though it could be imported and consumed
for five times less the amount than domestic rice. Because of the
importance of rice, chopsticks also assume a measure of importance.
Chopsticks have been made from almost every conceivable material.
One of the most popular was ivory which was obtained from the tusks
of elephants and walruses. Chopsticks for everyday use are made of
wood. These chopsticks are well constructed and are intended for
multiple use with a lifetime of several years. The aforementioned
waribashi are disposable after one use. It is this type of
chopstick that has urged environmentalists to demand that Japan
find a substitute for waribashi.
27. Human Rights
No
28. Transboundary Issues
No
28. Relevant Literature
Eisenstodt, Gale. "Damn the Bank, Full Speed Ahead." Forbes, 146
(3 September 1990): 64-5.
"Japanese Timber Imports: Hardluck for Hardwoods." The Economist,
311 (22 April 1989): 34-35.
Johnstone, Bob. "Japan Saps the World's Rain Forests." New
Scientist, 114 (2 April 1987): 18.
Kotkin, Joel. "The New Northwest Passage." Inc., 9 (February,
1987): 92-4.
Lonsdale, Harry. "Can We Save Our National Forests?" USA Today
(Periodical), 119 (March, 1991): 22-3.
Mardon, Mark. "Maneuvers in the Teak Wars." Sierra, 76 (May/June
1991): 30-36.
Miller, Alan S. "Three Reports on Japan and the Global
Environment." Environment, 31 (July/August 1989): 25-29.
Rosario, Louise. "Wood for the Trees." Far Eastern Economic
Review, 151 (6 June 1991): 57-8.
Swinbanks, David. Protests in Japan about Trade in Tropical Forest
Timber." Nature, 336 (10 November 1988): 100.
Swinbanks, David. "Japan Faces Both Ways on Timber Conservation in
Tropical Forests." Nature, 326 (March/April 1987): 537.
"Tropical Timber Lumbered by Japan." The Economist, 294 (2
February 1985): 61.
"Wasteful Japan." World Press Review, 36 (October 1989): 43-45.