Japan's polished diamond imports in January amounted to 189,338 carats and $50.3 million, reflecting a 24.9% drop in value and a 2.8% decrease in volume, compared to January 2009, IDEX Online reported.

The drop, said the report reflects the Japanese market's declining interest in jewelry and especially in diamond jewelry.

Japan has been considered the world's second largest diamond market for years, however, growing diamond consumption in China and India is likely demote it to the third – possibly the fourth – largest global market at some point in 2010.

Japan’s disinterest in diamond jewelry, added the report, could be attributed to several factors, such as Tokyo's battle with a decade long recession, made worse by the global financial crisis. Another factor may be the lack of real marketing: since De Beers ended its marketing promotions in Japan, no other company has taken it upon itself to promote diamond jewelry generically, and so sales of diamond jewelry have been declining steadily.