The jumbo scallops from the northern Japanese fishing town of Betsukai, on the island of Hokkaido, have a reputation for being among the most delicious on the planet, a cherished ingredient on a classic sushi plate.But for the past month, the Japanese government has exhorted the public to consume at least five of the delicacies daily to help draw down stocks that have piled up after Beijing banned imports of the bivalves in August.

Last week, the US military bases in Japan bought up hundreds of tonnes of scallops, crustacean casualties in what Washington’s ambassador to Tokyo Rahm Emanuel called the “economic wars” with China.

“It’s probably the biggest industry shock we’ve had in a decade,” Takeshi Ise, president of Marui Sato Kaisan, a scallop processing company in Betsukai, said of the embargo, which China introduced after Japan began releasing filtered water from the Fukushima nuclear disaster.