Cited public MAFF data

Japan gibier utilization map

Name: Recent situation around utilization of captured wildlife as gibier, June 2026
Creator: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries
License: https://www.digital.go.jp/resources/open_data/public_data_license_v1.0

MAFF's June 2026 gibier deck is more than a market update. It exposes the conversion problem: Japan captures large numbers of deer and boar, but only a small share becomes audited, buyer-ready food or other regulated utilization.

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The useful question is not “is there wild meat?” It is “which captured animals can move through a lawful, cold, permitted, traceable route into a repeatable buyer use?”

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

Recent situation around utilization of captured wildlife as gibier, June 2026

Figures from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, June 2026.

Open official PDF

Analysis view

The central constraint is not captured animals in general. It is usable animals moving through cold, permitted, traceable routes quickly enough to become repeatable supply.

Public examples and official figures do not imply a Wild Food Japan supplier, client, partner, or availability claim.

Official metric

R6 utilization

2,678 tons

R6 / FY2024

MAFF slide 7

Total volume processed at the 826 facilities, 2.1x the H28 level.

Official metric

R11 national target

4,000 tons

R11 / FY2029

MAFF slide 9

MAFF's utilization target for captured wildlife as gibier, including pet-food use.

Official metric

National utilization rate

≈10 %

R6 context

MAFF slide 9

MAFF describes the share of captured animals processed at gibier facilities as around one tenth.

Official metric

Active processing facilities

826 facilities

R6 / FY2024

MAFF slide 6

Facilities with meat-processing permits that processed wild bird or animal meat; inactive facilities are excluded.

Where the route gets stuck

Bottleneck map

MAFF slide 4, 8, 21

Capture fit for food

Bottleneck

Animals can be rejected when shot placement, bleeding, abnormality checks, or time-to-facility make them unsuitable for food.

Expansion path

Track hunter training, field hygiene, abnormality records, and rejection reasons as first-class supply data.

Buyer question

What field-handling evidence exists before the carcass reached a processor?

Records a buyer should ask for

hunter trainingbleeding statusabnormality checktime to chillrejection reason

Use split: human food, pet food, other

Utilization volume by route

The R6 total of 2,678 tons is not a single restaurant-supply signal. Human food, pet food, and other uses need separate route logic, proof requirements, and buyers.

H28

1,283 t

Human food1,015t · 79.1%

Pet food150t · 11.7%

Other118t · 9.2%

R6

2,678 t

Human food1,724t · 64.4%

Pet food830t · 31%

Other124t · 4.6%

Facility geography

Facility counts differ by prefecture

Facility count is not capacity. It is still a useful first signal for intake distance, chilling, primary handling, and wide-area coordination gaps.

Active processing facilities by prefecture

All 47 prefectures, colored by active facility count in R6 / FY2024. Each tile shows the exact count.

Facility count01-56-1516-3031-6061+

Sparse / one-facility prefectures

Aomori: 1Yamagata: 1Fukushima: 0Tochigi: 0Gunma: 1Tokyo: 1

Highest facility counts

Hokkaido

113

Hyogo

Okayama

Gifu

Oita

Nagano

Shizuoka

Kyoto

Miyazaki

Mie

Source-gated claims

The MAFF deck frames gibier utilization as infrastructure between wildlife management and food distribution, not as a recipe or tourism story alone.

MAFF slide 3, 4, 8, 9

Limit: The deck is national and policy-oriented; it does not prove local supply readiness for a specific buyer.

Large capture numbers do not equal restaurant supply because the food route begins with field handling, chilling, facility intake, records, and legal processing.

MAFF slide 2, 4, 8, 19, 21

Limit: Additional local route data is needed to estimate conversion rates by prefecture or facility.

Pet food is now a structurally important utilization route, not a footnote.

MAFF slide 9, 30

Limit: Pet-food suitability does not imply human-food suitability; the routes need separate hygiene and market checks.

The label and certification fields are part of the product: they turn wild meat from a local story into an auditable ingredient.

MAFF slide 22, 23, 24

Limit: Certification count alone does not describe non-certified but legally operating processors.

Species and region availability is conditional because CSF protocols and shipment restrictions can change whether a route is legally usable.

MAFF slide 26, 27

Limit: The page records the status shown in the MAFF deck; current restrictions must be rechecked before procurement.

Source data

MAFF · policy pdf

Recent situation around utilization of captured wildlife as gibier, June 2026

https://www.maff.go.jp/j/nousin/gibier/attach/pdf/suishin-312.pdf

MAFF · official portal

MAFF gibier utilization expansion portal

https://www.maff.go.jp/j/nousin/gibier/index.html

MAFF · official guidance

MAFF gibier hunter training

https://www.maff.go.jp/j/nousin/gibier/gibier_hunter.html

MHLW · hygiene guidance

MHLW hygiene management for wild game meat

https://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/seisakunitsuite/bunya/kenkou_iryou/shokuhin/syokuchu/01_00021.html

Shop

Buy gibier from the producers

These producers sell venison, wild boar, and kyon through their own official shops. Each page lists their products and hands you to the producer’s checkout. Wild Food Japan is not the seller and does not take payment.

See all wild meat

Stock checked October 11, 2026.

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