Japan to Release 210,000 Tons of Reserve Rice... Increasing Supply Amid Soaring Rice Prices

"Significant Impact on People's Lives"
First Release of Reserved Rice

The Japanese government will release 210,000 tons of reserved rice to lower the sharply rising rice prices compared to previous years.

Photo to aid understanding of the above article. Pixabay

On the 13th, NHK and Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported, "The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan plans to release 150,000 tons of reserved rice through a bidding process and then investigate the distribution situation to determine additional release amounts."

Most of the released reserved rice is from the 2024 harvest, with some from the 2023 harvest included. According to NHK, this is the first time the Japanese government has released reserved rice to increase rice distribution.

At a press conference the previous day, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Eto Taku announced the release of reserved rice to facilitate distribution. He said, "Prices should be determined by the market, but they have a very significant impact on people's lives," adding, "Considering the very rapid price increase, we made this decision."

Japan introduced a reserved rice system to prepare for emergencies such as severe poor harvests following the 1993 poor harvest. It is known to have secured about 910,000 tons of reserved rice. The storage period for reserved rice is five years, after which it is sold for uses such as animal feed.

The average price of 5 kg of rice at supermarkets nationwide was around 2,100 yen (about 20,000 won) in June last year, but it rose to 3,627 yen (about 34,000 won) by mid-last month. Kyodo News predicted, "If the rice distribution volume increases, prices at stores may decrease."