Japan: Continued High Prices for Japanese Table Rice Leads to High Import Demand and Release of Government Emergency Rice Supplies

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) has taken extraordinary steps to alleviate high rice prices that have continued to increase since the domestic rice shortage in summer 2024. While the arrival of the new crop hit supermarkets last September, easing the shortage, prices have continued to spike and are almost 80 percent higher in January 2025 than one year ago. In response, demand for imported rice has been bullish, both inside the state-traded quota system and with private sales, which typically face prohibitive tariffs. However, MAFF stated there is sufficient quantity of rice in Japan and that the problem stems from how the rice is being distributed. In a move typically done to assist with natural disaster relief, this will be the first time since the launch of the reserved rice system in 1995 that the government is releasing rice reserves to improve problems with distribution.