Japan wants to double its shipments of agricultural, marine and forestry products by 2020. Nearly three-quarters of shipments head to Asia - mainly greater China and South Korea.
But a recent food labelling scandal and ongoing concerns over nuclear contamination in the wake of the Fukushima disaster have damaged the country's reputation for safe, high-quality produce.
"They immediately stopped sales of anything that was contaminated so it's not really something that's in the media a lot here," Martin Frid, from the Consumer Union of Japan (CUJ), said.
"Although some of the seafood has been banned by other countries like South Korea.
"I think there is a concern, but nobody really knows the full extent of the contamination of the ocean."
Despite the bans placed on food from the affected region, several countries have curbed purchases from Japan.
Fish imports in particular have fallen by about a quarter since the nuclear disaster at Fukushima in 2011.
Mr Frid says the government needs to become more transparent and take food inspections more seriously if it wants to restore confidence in Japan's food safety.
"If Japan wants to be seen as a reliable exporter of food, it will have to be much more transparent," he said.
"The government will have to be much quicker in responding to these concerns.
"They need many more inspectors, they need many more people, looking at these issues immediately."
Food labelling scandal
Wakako Takasaka's family has been importing and distributing Japanese food in Australia for more than thirty years.
She says the family business Japan Foods Trading in Melbourne has been hit by tighter importing restrictions after the 2011 Fukushima disaster.
"Once we had the earthquake happen in Fukushima there was restriction where the stock was coming from," she said.
"And even still, once they gave us the areas that were restricted, anything that came from those regions would be tested by lab services once it got to Australian shores."
Ms Takasaka says Australian customers are also very wary of the potential nuclear contamination Japanese food products.
Japan's reputation for high-quality food has also been severely undermined by a recent labelling scandal.
Last month several major hotels and department store restaurants admitted that they had been regularly replacing the premium food products listed on their menus with inferior products.
Cheaper whiteleg shrimp was sold as premium Japanese Shiba shrimp, imported beef was touted as high-end Wagyu and orange juice from cartons was described as freshly-squeezed.
The CUJ's Martin Frid says the revelations left a bitter taste in the mouths of the Japanese public.
"[It was] maddening in fact. They were selling these foods as high-prized specialised shrimp that was better than any other shrimp in the world," he said.
"They were clearly lying to the public and that is illegal."
When it comes to the Australian market, Wakako Takasaka believes there will continue to be a demand for 'Made in Japan' high-end food products but meeting that demand might not be possible.
"We definitely know that there's a demand for Japanese products, but in terms of the type of items we bring in, it's restricted," she said.
"Coming into Australia, we can't do all the beautiful dairy stuff that comes out Hokkaido. For us, the issue is what the Australian Government will put restrictions on."
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