Japan’s New Rice Prices Seen Falling after 2-Year Rise

Tokyo, July 17 (Jiji Press)–Prices of newly harvested rice in Japan are increasingly likely to fall this year after rising for two straight years. This month, the Kagoshima Prefectural Economic Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives notified local agricultural cooperatives of suggested purchase prices for early-season rice that were about 20 pct lower than the previous year. Advance payments from the cooperatives to rice farmers are expected to be lower as well. Meanwhile, advance payments for early-season Koshihikari-brand rice produced in Miyazaki Prefecture, much of which is shipped to the Honshu main island of the country, were set at 18,000 yen per 60 kilograms of brown rice, down 45 pct from 32,600 yen in 2025. Lower prices for rice to be harvested in 2026 reflect larger-than-usual private-sector rice stocks. At supermarkets, the average rice price had hovered above 4,000 yen per 5 kg before beginning to fall in January. In the first week of this month, the price fell below 3,500 yen for the first time in about a year and a half. Many in the industry have called on the government to buy back rice released from its stockpiles to curb prices last year and replenish the stockpiles to tighten the supply-demand balance. Last month, agriculture minister Norikazu Suzuki told the prime minister’s office of a proposal to buy back released rice. However, the prime minister’s office opposed it, claiming that elevated rice prices could negatively impact people’s daily lives, informed sources said. On Tuesday, a group of Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers promoting rice farming submitted an emergency resolution to Suzuki, calling for preparations to promptly conduct rice purchases and buybacks. At a press conference on Thursday, Yoshito Shinno, chief of the Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives, or JA-Zenchu, said that the government should swiftly replenish its rice stockpiles to 100 pct. While the appropriate stockpile level is said to be about 1 million tons, the stockpiles have dropped to about 320,000 tons following releases since last year. However, some in the agriculture ministry are worried that buying back rice from the market before the harvest season would cause shortages. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]