Latest news with #JIJIPRESS
The Star
5 days ago
- Business
- The Star
Japan to set up Minister-level meeting to address rice supplies
Japan's minister of agriculture, forestry and fisheries Shinjiro Koizumi (R) poses as he inspects the sales status of rice, released by the government from its reserve under a discretionary contract, at a retail store in Tokyo on June 1, 2025. - JIJI PRESS/AFP TOKYO: Japan will set up a minister-level meeting as early as this week to address the supply of rice, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said in parliament on Monday (June 2), as the government seeks to stabilise the price of the nation's staple grain and quell public anger ahead of a summer election. The government released a further 300,000 metric tonnes of stockpiled rice last week in a bid to bring down prices, which have doubled in the past year. The move came as households struggle with inflation less than two months before an upper house election that could punish a minority government already on the back foot after an underwhelming performance in last year's general vote. "With rice costing twice as much - even 2.5 times as much in some regions - as last year, it's very important to steady that and stabilise the market,' Agriculture Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said in the same parliamentary session on Monday. Retailers including Aeon Co Ltd. and Pan Pacific International Holdings Corp., the parent company of popular discount store Don Quijote, started selling the stockpiled rice over the weekend, according to statements from both companies. Aeon priced its five kilogramme bag at just under ¥2,000 (US$13.97) before tax, well below the ¥4,200 per bag average consumers are seeing at storefronts. The government auctioned off batches of stockpiled rice starting in February, but prices have continued to hit record highs. Koizumi announced last week that the most recent release would be sold at a fixed price instead of auctioned, and bypass the usual supply chain, which includes rice collection agencies and wholesalers. - Bloomberg
Scotsman
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
9 school playground crazes and toys of the 1990s
1 . Tamagotchis If keeping up with your homework wasn't enough, spare a thought for 90s schoolchildren, who also had to contend with keeping their electronic pets alive. Tamagotchis, meaning 'egg watch' in Japanese, burst onto the scene in 1996 and they were soon in the pockets of children around the globe. Youngsters had to care for their 'pets' by feeding them, often with a hamburger or piece of cake, playing games with them, disciplining them and cleaning up after them. The fact that earlier versions couldn't be paused meant they were often taken to school, where pupils could compare how their creatures were getting on. | JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Images Photo: JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Images
Scotsman
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
9 school playground crazes and toys of the 1990s
1 . Tamagotchis If keeping up with your homework wasn't enough, spare a thought for 90s schoolchildren, who also had to contend with keeping their electronic pets alive. Tamagotchis, meaning 'egg watch' in Japanese, burst onto the scene in 1996 and they were soon in the pockets of children around the globe. Youngsters had to care for their 'pets' by feeding them, often with a hamburger or piece of cake, playing games with them, disciplining them and cleaning up after them. The fact that earlier versions couldn't be paused meant they were often taken to school, where pupils could compare how their creatures were getting on. | JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Images Photo: JIJI PRESS/AFP via Getty Images
