Japan is the world's sixth-biggest wheat importer, and the agriculture ministry keeps a tight grip on imports of the second most important grain after rice to protect consumers from price volatility and to maintain local production, which accounts for about 10 percent of domestic wheat demand.
The ministry buys about 5 million tonnes of foreign wheat for milling annually.
Details are as follows (in tonnes):
| COUNTRY | TYPE | QUANTITY |
| U.S. | *Western White (protein maximum 10.5 pct) | 7,410 |
| *Hard Red Winter (protein minimum 11.5 pct) | 13,360 | |
| ***Dark Northern Spring (protein minimum 14.0 pct) | 26,888 | |
| Canada | *Western Red Spring (protein minimum 13.5 pct) | 25,284 |
| Canada | ***Western Red Spring (protein minimum 13.5 pct) | 26,260 |
| Australia | **Standard White | 33,855 |
Shipments: * Arrival by June 30 **Loading between April 1 and April 30; *** Loading between April 21 and May 20
