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Price of rice in Japan falls below ¥4k per 5kg

(www.japantimes.co.jp)
126 points PaulHoule | 1 comments | 30 Jun 25 19:54 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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kondro ◴[30 Jun 25 23:41 UTC] No.44429105[source]▶
The fact the average Japanese person won't even consider trying imported Japonica rice from Australia or USA is madness if budget is a consideration.

But as someone who's tried many varieties of Japonica, there is a difference between the best Japan-grown rice and non-speciality rice grown elsewhere, as well as a difference between fresh (Japanese enjoy eating new rice, which is different from many rice-eating cultures) and old rice.

I pay somewhere around AUD$14/kg for Japanese rice in Australia, but I also don't eat it that often and I'm not that price sensitive.

But also, the average Japanese eats around 1kg of uncooked rice per week. That's ¥800 at the rates in the article (~USD$300/year). Japan's cost of living is generally pretty low, but I doubt +/- $100/year is effecting many people.

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daedrdev ◴[30 Jun 25 23:44 UTC] No.44429124[source]▶
Japan forces this to be the case with extremely high tariffs on rice imports. It's not that they won't consider it, they literally can't.
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Dylanlacey ◴[01 Jul 25 02:22 UTC] No.44429995[source]▶
I'm not sure tarrifs have a huge impact; Japan is Australia's largest buyer of rice, importing $63.8MUSD worth in 2023 per the OEC: https://oec.world/en/profile/bilateral-product/rice/reporter.... That's a lot of rice to buy, if it's more expensive and less desirable then domestic rice.
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1. freetime2 ◴[01 Jul 25 05:12 UTC] No.44430782[source]▶
> The government imports 770,000 tons of rice tariff-free annually under its minimum access quota, and places up to 100,000 tons of that up for auction. Private-sector imports, which are separate from that framework, are subject to a tariff of 341 yen ($2.35) per kilogram, a measure intended to protect domestic producers. [1]

Since 1995 Japan has been forced by the WTO to import a certain amount of rice tariff-free every year. Much of it doesn't even go to Japanese consumers, but rather to animal feed and strategic reserves. Prior to 2024, virtually all imported rice in Japan was imported to satisfy this requirement. Presumably that also includes the $63M of rice imported from Australia in 2023.

The tariffs do indeed have a massive impact, and until recently it was very difficult for consumers to even find imported rice in supermarkets.

[1] https://archive.is/0heNf#selection-2761.52-2761.373