Latest news with #JapanRice
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Japan's sticky problem with Trump, tariffs and rice
Donald Trump's insistence that "spoiled" Japan imports more US rice is adding to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's problems ahead of elections that could sink his premiership after less than a year in office. Japan is one of more than 20 countries receiving letters this week from the US president warning of "reciprocal" tariffs from August 1 failing a trade agreement with Washington. The 25 percent across-the-board levy for Japan is separate from similar charges for cars, steel and aluminium that have already been imposed. Trump wants to get Japanese firms to manufacture more in the United States and for Tokyo to buy more US goods -- notably gas and oil, cars and rice -- to reduce the $70 billion trade deficit with the Asian powerhouse. "I have great respect for Japan, they won't take our RICE, and yet they have a massive rice shortage," Trump said on Truth Social on June 30. Rice, though, is small fry in the grand scheme of bilateral business between the countries. BMI Fitch Solutions said that it accounts for only 0.37 percent of US exports to Japan, and that even doubling that would have a "negligible" effect on overall trade. "(The) Trump administration seems more concerned with the optics of striking deals than with meaningfully narrowing the US trade deficit," BMI said. For Japan, doubling imports could be swallowed if only the economic impact is considered. It could be well worth it if such a concession could reduce or even remove Trump's damaging 25 percent tariff on Japanese autos. - Lost majority - But the politics of rice are fraught for Ishiba, whose ruling coalition disastrously lost its majority in lower house elections in October. Upper house elections on July 20 could see a similar drubbing, which might prompt Ishiba to quit, 10 months after taking the helm of the long-dominant but unloved Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Rice Japan holds a cherished place in Japanese national culture -- samurai reputedly used to be paid in it. Relying on imports -- currently almost all rice consumed is grown domestically -- would be seen by many as a national humiliation for the country of 124 million people, and risky. "Culturally, and historically, the Japanese people are all about rice," Shinichi Katayama, the fourth-generation owner of 120-year-old Tokyo rice wholesaler Sumidaya, told AFP. "I personally welcome having an additional option for Japanese consumers. But I also feel the move (letting in lots of foreign rice) is too early from the standpoint of food security," he said. "If we become reliant on rice imports, we may face shortages again when something happens." While Japan already imports rice from the United States, many consumers see foreign, long-grain varieties as being of dubious quality and lacking the requisite stickiness of the homegrown short-grain rice. Bad memories linger from when Japan suffered a cold summer in 1993 and had to import large volumes of the grain from Thailand. American rice "tastes awful. It lacks stickiness", said Sueo Matsumoto, 69, who helps families where children have hearing difficulties. "If they (the Americans) want to export to Japan, they must work at it. They must think about consumer preference," he told AFP in Tokyo. - No sacrifice - As a result, Ishiba's government has been at pains to say it won't bend on the issue -- although this may change after the election. "We have no intention of sacrificing agriculture in future negotiations," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said recently. "Ishiba is walking a narrow plank, wary of provoking powerful domestic lobbies like rice farmers, while juggling an approval rating that would make aggressive trade moves politically perilous," said Stephen Innes at SPI Asset Management. The government has already been under fire for the recent skyrocketing of rice prices, which have roughly doubled in 12 months. Factors include a very hot summer in 2023, panic-buying after a warning of an imminent "megaquake" in 2024, alleged hoarding by some traders, and a surge in rice-hungry tourists. To help ease the pain, Tokyo is tapping emergency stockpiles, and imports have risen sharply -- led by rice from California -- but these are still tiny compared with domestic production. "All these problems with rice prices show the LDP's agriculture policy has failed," retiree Yasunari Wakasa, 77, told AFP. hih-oh-stu/dan
Reuters
27-06-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Japan private-sector rice imports soar in May
TOKYO, June 27 (Reuters) - Japan's private-sector rice imports rocketed higher in May as the country grapples with supply shortages that have become a major headache for both consumers and policymakers. Some 10,600 metric tons of so-called staple rice - which is consumed at meals as opposed to rice used for feed or ingredients in other products - were imported by companies such as trading firms and wholesalers despite high levies. While that's still a small amount compared to the roughly 7 million tons eaten by the Japanese each year, it represents a huge jump from the 3,004 tons imported for the entire last financial year that ended in March. Rice prices in Japan have doubled since last year after an extreme heatwave hit the 2023 harvest which was then exacerbated by stockpiling following an earthquake and additional demand from a boom in tourism. To tackle the problem, Japan's government began releasing stockpiled rice directly to retailers from late May, allowing some consumers to snap up 5 kg of rice for about 2,000 yen ($13.85) - less than half of average supermarket prices. Japanese restaurants and consumers are increasingly turning to U.S. brands in search of cheaper prices. Japan takes a heavily protectionist stance towards its most basic food and traditionally has not had to rely on imports. Private-sector imports are subject to a levy of 341 yen per kilogramme. The government can also import 100,000 tons of staple rice tariff free under World Trade Organization rules. It decided to hold a tender for tariff-free imported rice this month, earlier than the usual auction in September, to help lower soaring prices.
CNA
27-06-2025
- Business
- CNA
Japan private-sector rice imports soar in May
TOKYO :Japan's private-sector rice imports rocketed higher in May as the country grapples with supply shortages that have become a major headache for both consumers and policymakers. Some 10,600 metric tons of so-called staple rice - which is consumed at meals as opposed to rice used for feed or ingredients in other products - were imported by companies such as trading firms and wholesalers despite high levies. While that's still a small amount compared to the roughly 7 million tons eaten by the Japanese each year, it represents a huge jump from the 3,004 tons imported for the entire last financial year that ended in March. Rice prices in Japan have doubled since last year after an extreme heatwave hit the 2023 harvest which was then exacerbated by stockpiling following an earthquake and additional demand from a boom in tourism. To tackle the problem, Japan's government began releasing stockpiled rice directly to retailers from late May, allowing some consumers to snap up 5 kg of rice for about 2,000 yen ($13.85) - less than half of average supermarket prices. Japanese restaurants and consumers are increasingly turning to U.S. brands in search of cheaper prices. Japan takes a heavily protectionist stance towards its most basic food and traditionally has not had to rely on imports. Private-sector imports are subject to a levy of 341 yen per kilogramme. The government can also import 100,000 tons of staple rice tariff free under World Trade Organization rules. It decided to hold a tender for tariff-free imported rice this month, earlier than the usual auction in September, to help lower soaring prices.
BBC News
21-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
How a joke about rice cost a Japan cabinet minister his job
When Japan's farm minister declared that he never had to buy rice because his supporters give him "plenty" of it as gifts, he hoped to draw laughs. Instead Taku Eto drew outrage - and enough of it to force him to resign. Japan is facing its first cost-of-living crisis in decades, which is hitting a beloved staple: rice. The price has more than doubled in the last year, and imported varieties are few and far between. Eto apologised, saying he had gone "too far" with his comments on Sunday at a local fundraiser. He resigned after opposition parties threatened a no-confidence motion against him. His ousting deals a fresh blow to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's minority government, which was already struggling with falling public can be a powerful trigger in Japan, where shortages have caused political upsets before. Riots over the soaring cost of rice even toppled a government in it's not that surprising that rice prices have a role in Ishiba's plummeting approval ratings."Politicians don't go to supermarkets to do their grocery shopping so they don't understand," 31-year-old Memori Higuchi tells the BBC from her home in Higuchi is a first-time mother of a seven-month-old. Good food for her postnatal recovery has been crucial, and her daughter will soon start eating solid food."I want her to eat well so if prices keep going up, we may have to reduce the amount of rice my husband and I eat." A costly error? It's a simple issue of supply and demand, agricultural economist Kunio Nishikawa of Ibaraki University he believes it was caused by a government 1995, the government controlled the amount of rice farmers produced by working closely with agricultural cooperatives. The law was abolished that year but the agriculture ministry continues to publish demand estimates so farmers can avoid producing a glut of Prof Nishikawa says, they got it wrong in 2023 and 2024. They estimated the demand to be 6.8m tonnes, while the actual demand, he adds, was 7.05m tonnes. Demand for rice went up because of more tourists visiting Japan and a rise in people eating out after the pandemic. But actual production was even lower than the estimate: 6.61m tonnes, Prof Nishikawa says."It is true that the demand for rice jumped, due to several factors - including the fact that rice was relatively affordable compared to other food items and a rise in the number of overseas visitors," a spokesperson for the agriculture ministry told the BBC."The quality of rice wasn't great due to unusually high temperatures which also resulted in lower rice production." Growing rice is no longer profitable Rice farmers have been unable to make enough money for many years, says 59-year-old Kosuke Kasahara, whose family have been in farming for explains that it costs approximately 18,500 yen ($125.70; £94.60) to produce 60kg of rice but the cooperative in his area of Niigata on the west coast of Japan offered to buy it last year at 19,000 yen."Until three or four years ago, the government would even offer financial incentives to municipalities that agreed to reduce rice production," he ministry spokesperson confirms that the government has offered subsidies to those choosing to produce wheat or soybeans instead of younger farmers have been choosing to produce different types of rice that are used for sake, rice crackers or fed to livestock because demand for rice in Japan had been falling until last year."I got tired of fighting retailers or restaurants that wanted me to sell rice cheaply for many years," says Shinya that's been flipped on its head, with the going rate for 60kg of rice today at 40,000 to 50,000 higher prices are bad news for shoppers, it means many struggling farmers will finally be able to make as the public grew angry with the surge, the government auctioned some of its emergency reserves of rice in March to try to bring prices down. Many countries have strategic reserves - stockpiles of vital goods - of crude oil or natural gas to prepare for exceptional circumstances. In Asia, many governments also have stockpiles of recent years, Japan's rice stockpile had only been tapped in the wake of natural disasters."The government has always told us that they would not release its emergency rice stocks to control the price so we felt betrayed," Mr Tabuchi the government's rare decision to release rice, prices have continued to rise. Tackling soaring prices The cost of rice is also soaring in South East Asia, which accounts for almost 30% of global rice production - economic, political and climate pressures have resulted in shortages in recent Japan though the issue has become so serious that the country has begun importing rice from South Korea for the first time in a quarter of a century, even though consumers prefer homegrown Ishiba has also hinted at expanding imports of US rice as his government continues to negotiate a trade deal with Washington. But shoppers like Ms Higuchi say they are unlikely to buy non-Japanese rice."We've been saying local production for local consumption for a long time," she says. "There has to be a way for Japanese farmers to be profitable and consumers to feel safe by being able to afford home-grown produce." This divides opinion among farmers."You may hear that the industry is ageing and shrinking but that is not necessarily true," says Mr Tabuchi, who believes the sector has been too protected by the government."Many elderly farmers can afford to sell rice cheaply because they have pensions and assets but the younger generation has to be able to make money. Instead of guaranteeing the income of all the farmers and distorting the market, the government should let unprofitable farmers fail."Mr Kasahara disagrees: "Farming in rural areas like ours is about being part of a community. If we let those farmers fail, our areas will be in ruins."He argues the government should set a guaranteed buying price of 32,000 to 36,000 yen per 60kg of rice which is lower than today's price but still allows farmers to be given what happened to Eto, it is also a sensitive topic for country is due to hold a key national election this summer so pleasing both consumers and farmers - especially the elderly in both camps who tend to vote more - is crucial.
