★”It was too cheap until now” “It’s not a shortage, but it’s not enough” Why won’t the price of rice, which is attracting attention in the “Reiwa rice turmoil,” go down? The decline in staple rice production revealed by interviewing farmers and wholesalers “Reiwa rice turmoil” Why won’t the price go down When I talked to people in the city of Chuo Ward, Kumamoto City, I felt that “rice has become more expensive. “It’s also in short supply,” he said, “I buy it in 30-kilogram lots, and what used to cost 7,000 yen has now gone down to 10,000 yen.” The rice shortage and price rise have been dubbed the “Reiwa rice riots.” The impact is also being felt within Kumamoto Prefecture. Data on the sales price of rice produced in Kumamoto Prefecture announced by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. The trading price for Koshihikari rice per 60 kg in October 2024 will be 23,857 yen. Hinohikari is priced at 24,890 yen, which is 1.6 to 1.7 times higher than the same month in 2023. Since the new rice was released in the fall, the sense of shortage appears to have eased somewhat, but why do prices remain so high? When we interviewed a rice wholesaler in Kumamoto City about the current situation, a complex set of factors emerged. Demand increases and planting area decreases after the COVID-19 pandemic ends. Fujiki Kenta, managing director of Fujiki Rice, said, “There’s a fight (between retailers) over raw materials. This is the first time something like this has happened. I think the main reason is the decrease in production (of staple rice). “I think a big part of the increase in demand is because restaurants are doing well after the coronavirus pandemic ended and there’s also inbound demand,” he said. Fujiki also pointed out that “there were cases where farmers stopped (growing rice) due to old age, and there was a shift from growing rice as a staple food to using it as feed.” Data showing the area of land cultivated with rice shows that while the amount of rice used as a staple food is generally decreasing, the amount of rice cultivated for feed, which is subsidized by national policy, is increasing year by year. The increased demand for rice since the coronavirus outbreak, coupled with a decrease in rice producers, appears to be spurring price hikes. Fujiki’s store purchases rice directly from farmers and sells it without going through shipping agents such as agricultural cooperatives. As of December 11th, when we visited, Kumamoto Prefecture-produced rice “Mori no Kumasan” was priced at 3,000 yen for 5 kg. Managing Director Fujiki said, “Honestly, I think if it was around 3,000 yen for 5 kilos people would be happy, but there’s no profit in it. We will keep this in mind as we decide what to do about prices going forward.” (Link below).
>>1 Thanks to the success of Abenomics, most Japanese people have money to spare and can’t help but want to spend it. I think the fair price for prices is about three times what it is now, so I think it’s still cheap. With the economy in such a good shape (clear if you look at the Nikkei average), on the contrary, the psychology of “I don’t want to buy cheap things” is at work. Right now, it’s better to raise prices to sell more.
No matter how you look at it, it’s because of rising fuel prices. The reason why the Ministry of Finance is adamantly refusing to lower gasoline taxes is because they want to increase the prices of everything else in order to increase consumption tax revenue.
Those who say they will not tolerate an increase in rice prices no matter what are just saying that farmers should drink water, fill their stomachs, and donate rice to us lol, so it’s ridiculous and I can’t stand being a farmer.
It’s expensive, so people have cut back on how often and how much they eat.
Even though purchases from farmers are up 20%, why are retail prices up 50%? Why are they telling farmers in each region not to ship it? Both the JA and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries are silent. Wouldn’t it be better if these scum were extinct?
If you look at the Dojima rice futures market, you can see that prices are going to keep going up, so traders are buying up and then holding back on selling because they know the prices are going to keep going up.
Incidentally, the number of rice farmers will decline dramatically in the next 10 years. There are a lot of people in their generation who are leaving the rice fields. When you call for young people to gather in rural areas, people in their 60s and 70s gather. This is the result of the government neglecting agriculture by not providing subsidies.
It’s all just a spy template lol The fact that staple foods are too expensive and farmers are quitting is the fault of the government’s neglect and lack of action That’s what politics is all about if you’re serious.
How much were you guys buying before the price increase? Most people would buy the 10kg stuff for around 3000 yen, right? People who are particular about taste and have money would probably buy 10kg for over 5000 yen.
A few years ago, there was a fuss in Mexico about not being able to buy tortillas, and I thought that in a few decades, the same would happen in Japan, but like the declining birthrate, this is happening too quickly.
There are people campaigning to protect the beautiful rice terraces, but that’s not realistic. Soon there will be no one to live or farm in the mountains.
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