Ministry officials say cows have been in poor condition in Hokkaido and Iwate prefectures, which were hit by typhoons last month.

The ministry earlier decided to import 13,000 tons of butter, as a shortage is expected this year as in recent years.

Officials say another 4,000 tons are needed to have a sufficient amount after Christmas and year-end, when demand usually surges.

The ministry will make an official decision on Tuesday after hearing from wholesalers and consumer groups.

The number of domestic dairy farmers has been shrinking, causing a drop in milk production. Dairy producers in Japan tend to sell milk for drinking or use it to make whipped cream rather than butter.

In August, the vice chairman of South Korea's Lotte Group, Lee In-won, was found dead hours before he was to be questioned in the corruption probe.
Police investigators said the cause of death appeared to be suicide. The 69-year-old Mr Lee was due to be questioned the same day in an inquiry into a possible slush fund and financial irregularities at the company.
Raids on the company's offices have led to the firm pulling out of a share sale worth as much as $4.5bn (£3bn) for its hotel unit.
Lotte Group has more than 90 firms in sectors as diverse as beer, hotels and chemicals, and has annual revenues of about $60bn, according to the Korea Fair Trade Commission.
It is Korea's fifth-largest conglomerate and is considered one of Korea's family-run "chaebols" which are known to have complex ownership structures.

Charles Liu, founder and chairman of billion dollar company HAO Capital, told local media on Monday that the MalcolmTurnbull's government's "protectionist" attitude toward Chinese and foreign investment would continue to discourage investors from taking their money there.

Liu, who has invested in Australia for 20 years, said the process surrounding the failed bid for pastoral company S. Kidman and Co. was reminiscent of the "unfortunate trend" of closing the door on Chinese money by other Western nations.

"(The government) should have made clear at the beginning (of the Kidman & Co. bidding process) -- if that were the case - that a Chinese bid would not be acceptable," Liu told The Australian newspaper.

"If this is the attitude of the Australian government, one has to totally give up on the Kidman deal."

He added that Australia's previous Tony Abbott-led federal government which put together the historic China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) "was quite supportive, and then came the change of the administration".

Liu said Australia seemed to be heading down the same path as other Western nations which have been hesitant to fully embrace a global marketplace and economy, adding that his concerns were shared by "many people in China".

"This is an unfortunate trend developing in Western countries today, with de-globalization and xenophobia, populism and protectionism on the march," Liu said.

"Domestic politics in the West, including in Australia, is increasingly heading in that direction the massive change under way in countries' ethnic composition."

"It's unfortunate that entrepreneurial and hardworking Chinese people get caught up in this negativity, everyone being lumped together."

Liu said Australia should continue to embrace Chinese money as "there aren't so many people with deep pockets any more except the Chinese".

"If people take a positive attitude, then an overwhelming amount of business can be done," he said.