**6. Conclusion**

Recent years have seen changes in the trade of licorice between Japan and China. Specifically, the import price of Chinese licorice has been steadily increasing. As the high price of Chinese licorice is expected to continue, the use of Chinese licorice in Japan will be constrained.

Unlike in pharmacological studies, here we investigated at data such as the price and trading volume between China and Japan to analyze the licorice market from an economic perspective. So far, publications analyzing licorice by incorporating economic concepts is rare. Our study constitutes a novel analysis of trends in the licorice market.

This study investigated changes in the supply, demand, and quantity traded of licorice. We concluded that the recent high price of Chinese licorice in Japan is likely due to the combined effect of an increase in demand and a decrease in supply.

To alleviate this situation, the price and quantity traded of licorice must be maintained by increasing its supply.

As the number of native strains in China is limited, its supply is unlikely to increase.

One way to increase the supply of licorice without relying on native Chinese strains is to establish methods of licorice cultivation. If cultivated licorice can be used to manufacture pharmaceutical products in the same way as native strains, then cultivated licorice will serve as a useful alternative supply source to compensate for the decrease in the supply of native strains.

However, to achieve this, there are many problems that must be solved, and a great deal of future research will be necessary.
