"Stole Enough Rice for a Year and a Half"... Soaring Rice Prices Fuel Surge in Thefts in Japan

Rice Thefts Surge in Japan as Prices Double Within a Year

In Japan, rice prices have nearly doubled over the past year, leading to a surge in rice theft incidents.

According to the Yomiuri Shimbun on May 14, the Ibaraki Prefectural Police received reports of 14 rice theft cases, totaling 4.5 tons in stolen rice, from the beginning of this year through the end of April. Most of these incidents occurred at farm warehouses. This figure already exceeds half of last year's annual total of 25 reported cases.

AFP Yonhap News

One man in Ibaraki Prefecture discovered on April 19 that 14 sacks of brown rice, each weighing about 30 kilograms, had disappeared from a rice warehouse near his home. He said, "Someone took away enough rice to feed my family for a year and a half without leaving a trace. I am deeply shocked." In the same rice-farming community, four other households also had rice stolen. The Ibaraki Prefectural Police are investigating the possibility that these thefts were committed with the intent to sell the stolen rice.

Additionally, in Okayama Prefecture, there have been at least five cases of rice theft reported so far this year, with about 2 tons of rice stolen. In Niigata Prefecture, four cases of rice theft have been reported since February of this year, matching the total number of cases reported in all of last year.

There have already been instances where suspects have been apprehended. In Nara Prefecture, on May 1, a man in his 30s was arrested by police on suspicion of stealing 132 sacks of brown rice, valued at 2.55 million yen (approximately 2.46 million won). He admitted to the police that he stole the rice with the intention of selling it.

In Aomori City, Aomori Prefecture, a man was arrested in March after stealing two sacks of brown rice, totaling 60 kilograms, from a rice warehouse. According to the newspaper, after a series of thefts, the affected farm hid a tracking device in a sack of rice, which played a decisive role in tracing the suspect.

Rice prices in Japan have been steadily rising since around last summer, prompting the government to begin releasing rice from national reserves in March of this year. However, prices have yet to stabilize. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on May 12, the retail price of rice sold at supermarkets nationwide between April 28 and May 4 was 4,214 yen (about 40,000 won) for 5 kilograms. Although this represents a slight decrease for the first time in 18 weeks since December 2023, it is still double the price compared to the same period last year.

As rice prices continue to soar, Japan recently imported rice from South Korea. This marks the first official import of South Korean rice to Japan since 1990, when Japan began compiling export statistics for South Korean rice, making it the first such import in 35 years. Aside from emergency relief rice sent to Japan following the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, there have been no previous exports for commercial sale.