That law, which came into force last April, says land must be free of artificial fertilizers and chemicals for a minimum of three years before produce can be designated organic.
"This is very big chance for us," said Atsuo Fuji, a certification manager at Japan Organic and Natural Foods Association, which verifies that food produced at home or abroad is what it claims to be.
"I'm hoping organic will become a kind of brand."
In a country where a decade of stop-and-start recession has done little to erode sales of expensive designer goods, such branding could prove critical.
If you want Japanese consumers to go bananas over organic bananas, exporters say, the trick is to market them as the Louis Vuitton of the vegetable world.
"In Europe and the US, you're really catering to people's health needs," said Juan Campos, representative director of Daabon Organic Japan Co Ltd, which ships organic coffee, chocolate and fruit from Colombia.
"In Japan, the way to sell organic is to sell it as high-quality products. You really have to say, this is the sweetest banana you'll ever eat."
Daabon ships about half of the 840 tonnes of organic green coffee that Japan imports yearly, a figure Campos expects to swell to 1,680 tonnes in 2002.
"It's an ideal market," he said. "It's big and it's growing. It's allowing us to position ourselves at a very early stage when there's not much competition."
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