Japan's Naphtha Crisis Forces Calbee to Go Black-and-White

The fallout from Middle East hostilities has arrived on Japan's supermarket shelves. Calbee Inc., which commands roughly half of Japan's snack food market, announced on May 12 that it would gradually switch the packaging of 14 products — including its flagship potato chips and shrimp crackers — to black and white from late May, citing concerns about securing printing ink raw materials and packaging solvents derived from naphtha.

The announcement went viral almost immediately on the social platform X, where Japanese users shared images of the monochrome bags, describing them as "more funereal than expected" and "like something from another world."

Government Insists There Is No Shortage

At a press conference on May 12, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Satoshi Sato said the government had "not received reports of any immediate problem" with printing ink or naphtha supply. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, speaking the same day, stated that ink raw material supply had been confirmed at levels comparable to the same period the previous year, and instructed cabinet ministers to advise relevant industries to conduct procurement in line with last year's benchmarks.

Yet industry signals continued to contradict the official line. On May 13, Kochi Prefecture's famous local confection "Miroke Maru" (Milore small cookies) halted part of its production due to the same naphtha shortage, according to Kyodo News.

"Even with black-and-white packaging, you can still buy Calbee chips. But if Sanae Takaichi stays on as prime minister, we won't be able to buy naphtha at all." — Rakugo comedian Tachikawa Unsui, posting on X on May 13

What Is Naphtha and Why Does It Matter for Japan?

Naphtha, a petroleum derivative, is a key feedstock for plastics and printing inks. According to Japanese government statistics, approximately 40% of domestic naphtha consumption is imported from the Middle East, with another 40% produced domestically — though the crude oil required for domestic refining also originates overwhelmingly from the region. The Strait of Hormuz handles 94% of Japan's crude oil imports and 6% of its liquefied natural gas shipments.

Since April, Japanese food manufacturers have reported that shortages have begun affecting their ability to package products. Automakers, bathroom fixture producers, and paint manufacturers have similarly flagged difficulties in procuring naphtha, even as the Takaichi administration has maintained that stable supply is continuing.

In April, energy agency expert Haruhiko Sakaino warned on a public affairs program that "Japan will be in dire straits by June if the current situation continues." Citi Securities separately cautioned that Japan's naphtha stockpile stood at roughly 20 days' worth of supply.

Prime Minister Takaichi posted on X on April 5 stating that "at least four months' worth of domestic demand has been secured," combining approximately two months' worth of naphtha already procured or refineable domestically with two months' worth of intermediate chemical products such as polyethylene. Sakaino subsequently told the Tokyo Shimbun that this arithmetic was misleading, as it simply added naphtha stocks to downstream stocks — two separate layers of the supply chain — and did not reflect shortages already visible on production floors.

On April 14, the Japan Paint Manufacturers Association submitted a formal request to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism for supply assurances, stating that thinners and related materials were experiencing shortages and price spikes, and that "there is a significant disconnect between the information the government has released and the actual supply chain." Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Ryosei Akazawa attributed the instability to distribution "bottlenecks" and uneven supply flows, suggesting that hoarding behavior in parts of the distribution chain was restricting market availability.

At a cabinet meeting on April 30, Takaichi said May import volumes were expected to reach three times pre-crisis levels, achieved through sustained domestic refining and diversified sourcing from the United States, Algeria, and other non-Middle Eastern suppliers, supplemented by domestic inventory. She projected that supplies could continue through early next year, and instructed relevant ministers to communicate this through industry associations.

Japan Scrambles to Diversify Supply

Against that backdrop, Japan has moved urgently to open alternative sourcing channels. Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi used Japan's Golden Week holiday in early May to visit Zambia, Angola, Kenya, and South Africa, describing the African tour as an acceleration of Japan's resource diplomacy on the continent. Motegi's delegation disclosed that he had held emergency discussions with Zambian officials about future oil procurement.

In a March summit with U.S. President Donald Trump, Takaichi expressed Japan's intention to increase imports of American crude oil from Alaska and other sources — a proposal that aligned with U.S. interests. Bloomberg reported that tankers loaded with American Gulf Coast crude bound for Japan were increasing in number in early April and were expected to arrive between late April and late May.

Japanese manufacturers have also turned to China for chemical substitutes. Chinese customs data showed that Japan's imports of chemical and related industrial products from China — including inks, dyes, and colorants — rose markedly in March compared with the prior two months and against the same period a year earlier. Japanese imports of high-density polyethylene from China surged roughly 170% year-on-year in March and were around 20% above the monthly average for last year, according to the Nikkei. Japan also resumed imports from China of butadiene, used in tire production, and mixed xylene, a key component in paint thinners — both for the first time in several years.

A Wake-Up Call or a Missed Opportunity?

The ripple effects of the Strait of Hormuz blockade have spread globally, prompting several countries to introduce energy conservation measures including remote work mandates, vehicle traffic restrictions, and adjusted electricity use schedules. Japan has yet to implement any mandatory conservation measures. At an April 24 press conference, Minister Akazawa said no compulsory steps were under consideration, noting that Japanese citizens, once asked by their government to make sacrifices, tend to respond with "enormous effort," and that any such request therefore required careful handling.

An April poll by TV Asahi found that 64% of respondents believed the government should call on the public to conserve energy and reduce oil consumption, against 26% who opposed such a call. A panelist on the same broadcaster's program on May 13 noted that Calbee, as a private company, had effectively acted as a symbolic stand-in for the roughly 70% of the public who believe that "if we don't conserve, we're in trouble," asking whether the government had genuinely responded to that public expectation.

Some analysts have drawn parallels with Japan's response to the oil crises of the 1970s, when production floors used the disruption as an impetus to accelerate energy efficiency. In that reading, Calbee's pragmatic packaging decision may open a broader conversation about reducing plastic use and rethinking excessive packaging in Japanese consumer goods — a silver lining, perhaps, in an otherwise stark set of circumstances.