Japan’s “rice shortage” causes shortages and skyrocketing prices

Recently, the “rice shortage” in many parts of Japan has continued, and many supermarkets have run out of rice or limited purchases. Although some new rice has been put on the market, the price has risen significantly.

On August 26, Osaka Governor Yoshimura Hirofumi called on the Japanese government to release government reserve rice, saying that “there is no need to let rice sleep in the warehouse”; on September 2, he called again and was rejected again. Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Hayashi Yoshimasa said on September 2 that new rice will be put on the market at this stage, and the rice shortage will be alleviated accordingly.

The rice shortage continues to ferment

Since July this year, some areas in Japan have begun to experience a “rice shortage”, and the impact has gradually spread to more areas in Japan, including some supermarkets in major cities such as Tokyo and Osaka, where rice is out of stock or purchase restrictions have occurred. A common notice at the entrance of the supermarket is “one bag per family per day”. A recent emergency survey in Osaka Prefecture showed that about 80% of retail stores in the area are facing a shortage of rice. As a result, many people have turned to alternative foods such as ramen, pasta or bread. Some people on social media also said that they had been able to eat only noodles for several days. Japanese media called this phenomenon the “rice riots of the Reiwa era.”

On August 26, Osaka Governor Yoshimura Hirofumi said that he had applied to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries to release the national reserve rice. He pointed out that in the current situation of tight rice supply, there is no need to let rice continue to “sleep” in warehouses. Yoshimura Hirofumi also called on the public to buy rationally and avoid unnecessary hoarding.

Japanese Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Tetsuo Sakamoto said at a press conference on August 30 that the new rice will be on the market soon, and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries will not release reserve rice to avoid affecting the circulation of rice. In response to public criticism that the central government is slow to respond to the “rice shortage”, he said “I don’t think it’s too late.”

On September 2, Yoshimura Hirofumi again called on the Japanese government to release government reserve rice, but was rejected again. At a press conference on the 2nd, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi responded to the rice shortage and said that the country reserves rice to cope with the annual supply shortage. He stressed that “new rice has also started to hit the market, and the shortage is expected to gradually improve in the future.”

Japanese authorities attributed the rice shortage to extreme weather, an increase in tourists and hoarding by the public. According to the authorities, the main reason for this “rice shortage” was the extreme heat last summer, when high temperatures and drought led to a decline in rice production in major producing areas and poor rice quality. In addition, the sharp increase in the number of foreign tourists this summer has boosted demand for rice in the catering industry, causing a shortage of domestic rice. The Japan Meteorological Agency issued a “huge earthquake” alert in the Nankai Trough earlier this month. The earthquake warning triggered a large number of people to rush to buy and hoard rice, resulting in a decrease in the amount of rice circulating in the market. The industry originally expected that the new rice would soon be on the market, which was expected to alleviate the rice shortage to a certain extent, but Typhoon Shanshan brought strong winds and rainstorms to many parts of Japan, and the outside world was worried that it would affect the rice harvest of the season.

The national consumer price index for July released by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications last week showed that the price of rice in Japan rose by 17.2% in the past year, the largest increase in 20 years. According to statistics from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, as of the end of June this year, the country’s private rice stocks were 1.56 million tons, a decrease of 410,000 tons from the same period last year, the lowest since 1999.