The Animal Rights Center began our anti fur campaign with just two people in 2005. Before that, we educated only by presenting panels locally. However, since the cruelty in the Chinese fur industry was revealed around that time, we started walk-outs, panel presentations, leaf-letting, posting in newspapers and signboards.
Fur consumption in Japan can be shown by looking at its importation as there is only one fur farm (approximately 1500 minks) in Japan.
Transition in importation of fur apparel (including hats) since 2005
This type of fur kills more animals than any other fur product, and the Chinese fur industry, our very first motivation of the anti-fur campaign, exports the fur apparel most. Importation increased in 2011 when fur products became popular, but it has dropped significantly since then. Comparing the import by weight (kg) in 2005 and 2015 shows a decrease of 73%. The drop is even more significant when compared to 2006, when the fur import reached its peak, where it decreased by 82%. Comparing the import by the number of items in 2005 and 2015 shows that it dropped by 75%, comparing 2006 and 2015, it decreased by 80%.
Fur clothes import (Kg)
Transition in importation of fur materials
This is a graph of the importation of fur skin and materials, as is used by the, so-called, fur industry. Half of them are imported from Europe, the US, and Russia, the other half comes from Asian countries, such as China.
* There are many items that are not shown in the foreign trade statistics so only the weight in kg is shown here.
Over the long-term it has been decreasing, but has been fluctuating for the last few years. The reasons are; sheep wool was trendy in 2014, the fur distribution increased worldwide (most of it comes from China), and the price of fur became low.
Fur materials (skin) import (Kg)
Please note, we import fur that is attached to shoes, but the Ministry of Finance doesn’t distinguish the shoes that have no fur in the foreign trade statistics, making it hard to determine accurate numbers.
