Japan rice prices remain high despite government plans to release reserves

On Feb. 14, the government said it would release up to 210,000 tons of its stockpiled  rice, to be handed over to wholesalers in mid-March after it has been bid for and expected to hit store shelves between late March and early April.

The farm ministry expected the announcement alone would lead to lower prices before the release of the stockpiled rice. But there has been no such effect, an executive at a major rice wholesaler said.

Wholesale prices of Koshihikari brown rice from Niigata Prefecture, for example, was between 48,300 yen ($320) and 48,500 yen per 60 kilograms as of Feb. 26, little changed from a month earlier, according to rice market research firm Beikoku Databank.

"Once the results (of the bidding) are revealed, it will have an effect on lowering prices," an official at the research firm said.

The government is scheduled to release 150,000 tons of rice in the first stage, and could release an additional 60,000 tons if the need arises.

According to the consumer price data released last month, rice prices surged 27.7 percent in 2024 from the previous year, the largest increase since 1975. In December alone, prices soared 64.5 percent from a year earlier.

The spike in prices followed a poor harvest in the summer of 2023 due to a period of high temperatures that reduced the amount of rice available for distribution the following year. A sharp rise in the number of foreign tourists has also driven up rice consumption at restaurants.

The Japanese government has 910,000 tons of rice stockpiled, with the planned release equivalent to over 20 percent of the reserves.