03-06-2025
Private sector continues to import record amounts of rice
Major supermarket chain Aeon started selling 100 percent Calrose rice from the United States in May. The photo was taken in Tokyo's Minato Ward on May 13. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
Not only is Japan eating more rice grown overseas, the Finance Ministry reported the private sector imported a record 3,000 tons in fiscal 2024 to combat the shortage at home and ballooning prices of domestic harvests.
This record noted in the trade statistics report released by the ministry's Customs and Tariff Bureau marked an all-time-high since fiscal 2000 when data was first recorded.
It has also already been eclipsed by this fiscal year's still-growing totals.
Rice imports reached about 6,800 tons in April alone, more than double the private sector's total imports of 3,011 tons during fiscal 2024. Most was sourced from the United States.
Comparatively, the government can currently import about 770,000 tons of rice annually without being subject to tariffs under the World Trade Organization's "minimum access" system.
Private sector buyers have access to 100,000 of the 770,000 tons to consume as a staple food.
If private companies import outside this framework, a tariff of 341 yen ($2.38) per kilogram is imposed. Recently, imports outside the quota have increased significantly.
The Asahi Shimbun's calculations based on the statistics from the Finance Ministry show the private sector imported about 730 tons of rice in fiscal 2023. This shot up to 3,011 tons in fiscal 2024.
Zooming in, about 1,300 tons of rice were imported this March followed by 6,838 tons in April—around 80 times more than last year's average monthly totals.
About 80 percent of April's imports were from the United States, followed by India, Thailand and Vietnam.
While this amount is still insignificant when factoring in that the total domestic demand for the staple is about 7 million tons, having the option to buy rice grown abroad may still be attractive to some consumers. Even with tariffs, it is more affordable than the soaring prices of domestic brands.
According to the farm ministry, the latest average cost for a 5-kilogram bag of rice is 4,260 yen including tax while Calrose rice from the U.S. goes for about 300 yen less.
Kazunuki Oizumi, a professor emeritus at Miyagi University who specializes in agricultural management, believes the government should push to turn Japanese rice into a viable export to remain competitive.
'Rice is the only staple food that Japan can domestically supply to meet its demand,' he said. 'Therefore, the government should develop the rice industry to enter overseas markets through expanding the scale of production and technological innovations.'
Oizumi went on to say that the recent increase in imports 'reflects the government's failure in agricultural policy, which kept rice prices high. The country is at a crossroads regarding food security, facing a choice between relying on imports or domestic production.'
(This article was written by Roku Goda and Nobufumi Yamada.)
