Newscasts - Japanese shoppers scramble for cheap, government-issued rice

Seven & I Holdings Co

03/06/2025 09:29

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Source: 'Reuters - General news videos'

Description: Japan's farm minister said on Tuesday the government stood ready to offer more stockpiled rice as consumers formed long queues to snatch up cheap, emergency-use grain made available through some retailers since the weekend. Julian Satterthwaite reports.

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Video Transcript:

It's a shocking sight in Japan. Long lines of desperate shoppers forming to buy the most everyday of staples, rice. That was the situation at locations around the country this week, as consumers scrambled to get their hands on cheap, government-issued stocks. The rice started hitting shelves over the weekend after ministers began selling grains from emergency stockpiles direct to retailers. That saw people waiting for hours outside major stores including AEON and Ito-Yokado. It all comes after rice prices doubled over the past year, partly due to high temperatures hitting harvests. This shopper says she is counting on the government to help. She told Reuters she had all but run out of rice and was switching to bread and noodles. Now, the government rice is available at about $14 for 5 kilograms, or about half regular store prices. Farm Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said action was also needed to protect domestic production.

If these high prices continue to go unchecked, the shelves will be filled with imported rice. I would like to reiterate that we are releasing our stockpiled rice in order to prevent this from happening.

Koizumi said the government stood ready to release its entire stockpile if necessary. But it remains to be seen how the emergency release will affect regular retail prices. Now, this year's harvest is at least expected to better. Imports of rice have also increased but remain tiny, with Japan imposing steep tariffs to protect domestic growers.