Rice has become a major crisis point for the Japanese government and people — here's what’s happening

Japan is having a “rice crisis” because the price of rice has almost doubled in one year. In April, the price of rice went up 98.4% compared to last year. In March, it had already gone up by 92.5% year-on-year, as per Government data.

The price hike is hurting normal people’s budgets and making Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and his Liberal Democratic Party less popular. Even emergency actions, like using rice from government stock, didn’t help bring the prices down.

Popular Koshihikari rice is now selling for 5,000 yen for 5 kg. Other types of rice are being sold at 4,200 yen, as per Japanese media. PM Ishiba said in Parliament, “We don’t know why we haven’t been able to push prices lower” and that the government will now try to find out how much rice is left and where it is.

According to the report by Al Jazeera, Tim Harcourt, chief economist at UTS, said there are 3 main reasons for high prices, panic buying after online rumours about a huge earthquake, wheat shortage from the Russia-Ukraine war, so people are using rice instead, more tourists in Japan and a busy hospitality industry, both raising rice demand.

A very hot summer in 2023 also damaged rice crops and reduced farm output. Now, some restaurants and people are choosing cheaper imported rice instead of local rice. If this continues, it could hurt the minority government of PM Ishiba even more before the elections later this year.

Harcourt told Al Jazeera that since rice is Japan’s most loved food, any problem with its price quickly turns into a political issue.

A new poll shows the PM’s approval rating dropped to 27.4% in May, down 5% from April. Agriculture Minister Taku Eto had to resign because he said he never had to buy rice since he gets so many rice gifts from supporters.

His comment was seen as insensitive, especially when people are struggling with high prices. The new Minister, Shinjiro Koizumi, said he will try to bring rice prices down to 3,000 yen for 5 kg. Japan’s core inflation rate in April was 3.5%, the fastest in over two years.The Bank of Japan says prices for everyday items were 3.5% higher in April compared to the same time last year.

Food prices alone went up 7% in April. In March, they had already risen by 6.2%. Japan used to have very low inflation, but COVID-19 and the Ukraine war changed that in 2022. Labour shortages have made the problem worse.

FAQs

Q1. Why is rice expensive in Japan now?
Because of low supply, more demand, and weather problems.

Q2. What did Japan’s PM say about rice prices?
He said the government is still trying to find out why prices are not going down.