Japan Food Supply: Updated April 6, 2024

 

Japan enforces food supply emergency law amid soaring costs

Article source:  https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20250401/p2g/00m/0na/018000c

Ideas:

Japan's new food supply emergency measures sounds like an attempt to gloss over the situating with the rice supply and surging prices since last summer. It might be an honest attempt to improve the food supply as weather and temperatures seem to be causing a lot of concern in Japan these days.

Japanese farmers might submit plans but they have no control over the weather or temperatures that can significantly affect the supply of food crops. And there is no guarantee that the plan they submit will be correct as again the weather can increase or decrease the supply.

It might be a good idea to try to curb food shortages but again there is no guarantee that future crops will be enough to handle what is needed, and who knows when the situation is going to end. 

Another idea might be to try and improve the volume of imports of certain foods, such as foreign rice, as a way to ensure rice supplies are adequate for Japan.

But there is always the idea that some Japanese don't want foreign food but if food manufacturers use the foreign food in raw materials and or restaurants do the same thing, who is going to really know or really care.

The increase in rice which increased 80.9 percent might be a combination of less that normal supplies and some suppliers and rice venders keeping to the price high for their own benefit and not the benefit for the good of society.

Some might call this sticky prices and its not a play on words as when prices remain high for a very long time, and they don't come down naturally, that might be because something or someone in the market might be causing the prices to remain too high.

While its good that the government has designated 12 foods as crucial foods but what seems to not have been considered if a supply of one of the 12 foods gets too low the government should consider temporary price controls to ensure that prices don't go too high for the good of society.

It's very good that the supply of fertilizers, and pesticides needed for production are there for farmers, but will the farmers have to pay for the needed supplies and how much as farmers have very thin profit margins to work with and if the needed supplies cost too much they are losing more for the production of a crop.

All that is good and needed but again there is no guarantee that Japanese farmers can improve the supply of their crops, as again they are at the mercy of the weather and temperatures related to their crops.

And again, there is always the idea of importing of foreign food whether its rice or something else to ensure there is always an adequate supply of food in Japan.

The law seems very strict as again farmers have no control over their exact crops and yes, imports is the best way to supplement domestic supplies if there was a less than good growing season. 

Again all of this seems like an exaggerated attempt to fix the rice supply situation that started in the summer of 2023 but didn't really manifest himself until the early summer of 2024.

Supplies might have grown due to the Japanese government releasing its reserve rice supply and with the increase of foreign rice imports too.

And then is there the challenge of prices still being too high, as it might be a market failure problem related to some suppliers even some supermarkets keeping the price of rice high to maximize their own profits at the detriment of the common good of Japanese society.

Have a nice day!