Japan Job Availability: Updated July 8, 2025.

Japan's job availability declines in May for 1st time in 3 months

Article source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20250627/p2g/00m/0bu/019000c

Ideas

Japan is in a tight job market now as more Japanese workers are looking for better jobs and or better working conditions and of course better wages.

The jobs availability ratio relates to how many jobs available for 100 workers so 1.24 is could be good or could be not so good depending on a persons's situation.

As inflation continues on in Japan Japanese workers have less and less disposable income which means they want or need better jobs with better wages.

There might be 124 jobs available for workers but what kind of jobs are they and do they pay the wages that Japanese workers are looking for.

Some of the jobs, unfortunately, might be with small and mid-size companies that can't pay good wages and they are hoping for some workers to help them.

Again, unfortunately, small and mid-size companies just don't have the resources needed to compete for the workers that large Japanese companies target.

In a dynamic growing economy there might be jobs openings year-round but Japan is not a dynamic growing economy these days and they might only have so many jobs available.

And then there is the possibility that some sectors just don't have the resources to hire any more workers which might bet the case with the hotel and restaurant industry and they might have used up their available resources or increased wages for the workers they do have now and they don't have anymore resources to hire any new workers.

The same with the retail sector as they might have used what resources they have to give wage increases to their existing workers and now don't have enough to hire any more workers.

There has been some discussion, in some Japanese cities of hiring foreign workers as drivers but the challenge is the level of Japanese needed to pass the Japanese driver's license test and then getting them into Japan if they aren't there yet.

An increase of 0.1 is not that much of an increase and there is always the statistical variance that might have caused the 0.1 percent increase which means there might not have been much of an increase at all.

Japan has one of the lowest unemployment rates among advanced nations but in reality Japan too has a lot of jobs that are contract or even part-time jobs which Japan might not have complete or full employment as given.

Of the 330,000 hired for new jobs how many of the jobs are full-time jobs with good benefits and how many are contract jobs that don't pay as much are or part-time jobs.

Again, it might seem like Japan's economy is a thriving growing economy with only a 2.4 percent unemployment rate, but looking below the surface might reveal a different story of small and mid-size companies unable to pay the wages of large companies and also many small and mid-size companies might be struggling due to not being able to higher enough workers because of the the low wages they have to offer.

Ever since the 1989 asset bubble crash in Japan the Japanese economy just hasn't been the same. At one time in the 1980 Japan had some of the largest companies in the world but ever since the crash both its stock market and Japanese wages have been some of the weakest among advanced economies with no relief in sight.

At times it seems like Japan is stuck in time and hasn't been able to move forward from the 1980's when it was the envy of the world. 

Part of the challenge is Japan just hasn't been able to innovate and or compete on the global stage like Chinese and South Korean companies are now doing. 

Beside Japanese cars, what other Japanese products are global leaders in their field. For example Japanese smartphones are nowhere to be found at global trade shows like South Korea's Samsung or the Chinese companies which are making significant inroads on the global stage now.

Japan's economy and Japanese companies seem to have lost their way and there doesn't seem to be any way back at this time.

Have a nice day!

Rice Imports in Japan: Updated July 5, 2025.

Rice imports to Japan surge in May, 3.5 times FY 2024 total

Article source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20250627/p2g/00m/0bu/057000c

Ideas

The agriculture sector is probably the most protected sector in the Japanese economy as Japanese farmers are extremely protected from outside influences such as imports from other countries.

That is maybe one reason why prices for some Japanese agricultural products are so high as there is almost no competition related to prices in the Japanese market.

The Japanese rice emergency has kind of been a good thing as it has forced open the Japanese market, some, and more rice from other countries are finally getting a chance to show that other countries can grow quality rice too.

The foreign rice that is imported from foreign countries of course has a tariff on it which of course is like a tax on the product, which means of course the final customer will probably being paying the increase cost due to the tariff.

The challenge of course is going to be how will Japanese consumers and Japanese households feel about the possibility of eating foreign rice, as everywhere, globally, everyone thinks their products might be better.

But is the foreign rice is priced much cheaper some Japanese consumers might want or need to try it as a way to save some money, as Japanese rice tends to still be expensive.

There is no real proof but it seems there might be a cartel taking place in keeping the price high and even maybe during the auction the players in the auction might be colluding to keep the auction prices high.

There should never have been a rice shortage in Japan as the Japanese government should have released it reserves almost immediately into the market to stabilize prices.

At the same time, there seems to be too many middlemen in the Japanese rice market and rice after being harvested goes through different levels of middlemen and each one of course increases the price and when it gets to the supermarket it again goes through a price increase so the final customer has to pay a lot more than what the farmer got for it in the auction.

Japanese supermarkets and middlemen should have the ability to pick and choose what import rice products they want and need based on customer demand. If Japanese consumers actually begin to like foreign rice middlemen and supermarkets, in a free market system, should be able to buy and import foreign rice.

But unfortunately, due to the influence of Japanese farmers on the government the Japanese government might actually control how much foreign rice and enter the Japanese market each year.

Even though the WTO might have some rules related to a minimum that must be imported Japan and other countries always find ways to get around the rule.

Again, the price of Japanese rice is too high for too long, Japanese consumers might actually start looking at the foreign rice, which might be priced much cheaper than Japanese rice.

Its quite possible, even with the tariffs, the prices of the foreign rice might still be much lower than the price of Japanese rice, as again, the Japanese rice market and the logistics system in Japan keeps the price high because of all the layers the rice must move through before it gets to the final customer.

The rice shortage in Japan should never have happened as rice is a more food staple and Japanese families depend on the rice for everyday meals.

Certain foods should always be protected by the government to ensure they are there for everyday use by a country's citizens. Food such as bread, milk, eggs and in Japan and many Asian countries rice should be a protected product too.

Have a nice day!

Japan May Core Consumer Prices: Updated June 21, 2025.

Japan's core consumer prices in May rise 3.7% on surging rice costs

Article source:  https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20250620/p2g/00m/0bu/009000c

Ideas

Japan is a resource poor country, which means they have to import much of what the need including gas, oil, and anything needed to make things including some food products.

And then if you add in the weak Japanese yen, that makes imports prices even higher which means Japanese households have to pay even more.

Rice is separate problem as there seems to be something amiss  with rice supply chain in Japan maybe some of the suppliers might be acting like they are a cartel and trying to control the rice prices.

Most central banks would like to keep inflation around the 2 percent level and they feel its a manageable level and its a good gauge of how an economy is operating.

Too high and an economy might be overheating and too low an economy is not operating efficiently.

The Japanese government, years ago, should have put some price controls on key factors that affect everyday Japanese households and a way to relieve the stress on Japanese families.

Something is amiss again with the Japanese economy has maybe other economies have begun to see inflation decreasing but not in Japan for some reason.

There is the possibility that maybe there are problems with some Japan supply chains that are either acting like cartels or the fact that the Japanese supply chains are too multilayered which means each time a product moves from one middleman to another middleman the price goes up on the product and when it goes to the final customer the price has increased a lot.

There might not be a rice shortage if the Japanese government released all of its reserve rice and actually shipped it to supermarkets and not though the normal supply chains channels with increases the price too much.

But then there is the problem of the media supposedly saying the reserve rice doesn't taste as good as the name-brand rice that many Japanese consumers like.

it's possible that the medial suggesting that the reserve rice is/was not as good as the name-brand rice might be the result of traditional rice producers aiding the media to make such comments as a way to get Japanese consumers to keep buying the traditional rice despite the price being very high.

There is also the problem of maybe shipping costs. globally have increased a lot since the pandemic as shipping companies too lost a lot of revenue and also the fact that oil and gas prices have increased a lot for shipping companies.

Then there is the idea that agricultural products are subject to good growing seasons and not so good growing seasons,which might be the reason for the decreases in cabbage prices and also part of the problem for the high rice prices.

Good growing seasons might result in lower prices and not so good growing seasons might result in higher prices.

Rice is supposed to be a main staple in the Japanese diet so what has happened where the main food staple in Japan has seen prices increase so much, as maybe someone or some group is/are acting in their own self interests and not in the interest of Japanese society.

Why has it taken almost a year for the Japanese government to figure out how to solve this problem as the problem originated about a year ago.

Again, if rice in Japan is such an important food staple why has the Japanese government allowed the situation to last as long as it has.

There is the idea of maybe price controls to help Japanese families could have been used a long time ago as a way to lower the price of rice and any other important food staple such as eggs, bread, noodles and some meat not to mention needed fruits and vegetables.

Most likely the high energy prices that climbed 8.1 percent might have been too much for Japanese families and they had to cut back on something such as not buying durable goods such as air conditioners.

All of these prices increases on many products means that some or many Japanese households have less disposable income to use in the Japanese economy which then means less consumer spending to help increase the Japanese economy grow.

The service sector which usually doesn't mean the selling of tangible products but intangible products or services, so they usually don't pass-on their costs to the customer but they do pass on their wage increases to the final customers as service sector companies usually have very thin profit margins and need to maintain those profit margins to stay in business.

Have a nice day!

Japan Trade and Trump Tariffs: Updated June 27, 2025.

Japan records trade deficit as exports suffer from Trump's tariffs

Article source:  https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20250618/p2g/00m/0bu/033000c

Ideas

There are always going to be shifts up or down in exports and imports but yes, the tariff situation can make the ups and downs more exaggerated over time.

But a 1.7% drop is not really that bad as it could have been worse, but yes, for a company that had a sales drop it is not so good too.

The 7.7% drop in imports might be related to the continued inflation situation in Japan and Japanese consumers are just cutting back on what they buy.

The Japanese economy is not used to trade deficits as its depends heavily on exports to keep its economy growing as the domestic economy is not that strong.

Japan needs to just keep negotiating as much as possible and overtime, the present US admin. might become distracted with other situations and eventually just give in and move on to something else.

Even though the US might be Japan's largest trade partner, and they key word is used to be a trade partner, Japan as much as possible should try to diversify its trade situation.

Of course China is/was a key trade partner but China as fallen aside ever since the pandemic and or ever since it began to have internal economic challenges and hasn't been the same since.

Someone in the US administration either doesn't care about international trade or comparative advantage or absolute advantage or is ignoring 50 plus years of how the world trade order has worked.

Yes, related to some products here or there and between different countries trade is never perfect and never will be and some situations might favor one country or another but that is the world trade system today, and is worked fairly well for a very long time.

Additional tariffs are not only going to hurt the export trade country and its companies but also hurt US consumers and those companies in the US that sell Japanese products such as Japanese cars and or Japanese auto parts.

For the most part, in today's global world, companies don't have a lot of loyalty to a specific country, even though they might verbally say we are Japanese etc.

So, it's not a surprise that Toyota and Honda might build more car factories in the US, as they are doing it not for the good of the US but for the good of Toyota and the good of Honda as it might make sense financially to manufacture cars in the US over Japan.

Toyota and Honda producers a lot of cars in Japan, in the Japanese domestic economy and to build new factories might have been on their agenda even before the tariff situation came about.

The tariff situation probably just prompted both companies to move up their plans to build more factories in the US or produce more in the US as shipping and logistics costs can be reduced which helps both companies.

Have a nice day!

Japan Trade Deficit: Updated June 23, 2025.

Japan logs 637.6 bil. yen trade deficit in May on weak US exports.

Article source:  https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20250618/p2g/00m/0bu/016000c

Ideas

Japan is a major export country and much of their economy depends on exports as there domestic economy is not really that strong compared to other countries.

The tariff situation might have affected exports but it a little early to say exactly as many car dealers in the US have inventories of cars in place of two or three months, which means they might not see the real tariff situation for at least two months.

Car sales are always cyclical and never the same from month to month so its quite possible sales for all cars in the US were down a little.

Again, yes it could be related to the tariff situation and related to US consumers deciding they just can't afford a new car at this time. 

Buying a car is not like buying food at a supermarket as maybe its a one time purchase every four or five years if even that.

The trade balance and or the current account is like a bank account for an economy as exports bring money into the current account and imports take money out of the account

There is the volume of imports and exports and then there is the value of imports and exports, and the value of imports has been a major challenge for the Japanese economy for a long due to the weak Japanese yen which makes the value of imports more which affects everything in the Japanese economy.

Japan doesn't have any real trade agreements with oil producing countries which it really needs as oil prices fluctuate a lot over time.

Japan is a resource-poor country which means it has to imports of its oil and gas that it needs and uses and again if the prices fluctuates a lot which it does, it causes real havoc for the Japanese economy.

Japan is a major export country and its economy is all about exports as the domestic economy just don't grow like it should because all of the focus is on exporting products and now especially to the US.

And now with the tariff situation Japan might need to refocus on what its doing and try to find ways to get its domestic economy growing and maybe wean itself off of exporting.

Japan needs a complete transformation in order to completely change what its doing and needs a complete new mindset in how to re-engineer it domestic economy in the future.

It's quite possible that Japanese car producers in Japan lowered the value of Japanese cars as a way to compensate for the increase in the tariffs and as a way to keep sales up knowing full well that if car dealerships increased the price to compensate for the increased tariff that US consumers would no buy as many Japanese cars.

Japan is not just about cars but also many small companies in Japan makes auto parts, and many of them might make one small single part and then have it shipped to the US.

It used to be, in normal times before now, that it was common in the regular international trading system that trade partners took care of each other or didn't do anything extreme that could harm on another and even between China and the US there was certain level of respect among them in related to trade.

But it seems all that has been thrown out the window and unfortunately its everyone for themselves or many one for themselves and everyone else now just trying to find a way to survive.

The US used to be a key market ever since WW11 ended but now, again, that might not be the way its ever going to be again, as not just Japan buy many key trade allies have been thrown under the bus and must fend for themselves now.

It's a very disheartening situation that seems to not have a good ending as the world trade order in place since WW11 has been destroyed or potentially destroyed.

Yes, as a possible strategy, Japanese car makers might have increased shipments of lower-priced models as a way to offset the high tariff situation. 

It remains to be seen how US consumers are going to respond to a new group of Japanese care and whether they will like them or not.

Again, the Japanese economy might be too dependent on car exports as a key economic driver instead of trying to diversify its export mix as a way to grow the economy.

But also its natural for an economy to rely on just the key export products as to why change if what is working is working, but the same thing has happened with South Korea and its reliance on semiconductor chips and really not much else except maybe South Korean cars too.

The situation with China is very different than what is happening with the US. The Chinese economy has been in some kind of transformation stage ever since the pandemic and maybe even before the pandemic as maybe its economic boom years are finally over or very close to being over and they are beginning to move more into a developed economy or near-developed economy, which means less economic as in the boom years.

The rest of Asia, including South Korea might be the only saving grace for China as the rest of Asia seems to be doing much better and might be a major export component for Japan if the US begins to decrease.

Even though there are 27 countries in the EU and if you include the UK that is still a major trading block but for whatever reason the EU just can't get its act together as you would think the EU could be and should be doing much better but maybe the Ukraine situation has completely over-shadowed trade among the 27 countries in the EU.

Have a nice day!

BOJ Concerns About Trade Talks: Updated June 19, 2025.

Downside risks exceed upside risks for both economy, prices: BOJ head

Article source:  https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20250617/p2g/00m/0bu/049000c

Ideas

The Bank of Japan, like most central banks, are very conservative and they don't make a move unless they think its in the best interest of their country.

Japan is entering uncharted territory, like other countries so they really don't know what to do  related to the tariff situation and how to overcome or compensate for it.

With relation to prices, US prices, Japanese companies might have to increases to compensate for the increased tariffs, but of course that might reduce demand for Japanese products in the US.

There are always going to be risks related to increasing interest rates, such as a decreases in the loans at banks, a decreases in credit card purchases, and the decreases of housing loans, not to mention companies not taking out loans for the whatever they need.

Trade policies might be the deciding factor for the Bank of Japan if they feel the US tariff situation is just too much for the Japanese economy.

Its really too early to see the full effect of the tariffs at this time, as maybe by the end of the summer there will be more data available about how the US tariffs have affected Japanese companies in Japan and in the US.

The Bank of Japan has usually been the largest purchaser of Japanese government bonds as a way to keep the economy moving but recently reduced their buying of bonds.

But at the Japanese economy is slowing down and the potential effects of the tariff situation is beginning to set in the BOJ might be increasing its bond buying again.

The BOJ buying Japanese government bonds increases the debt to GDP ratio in Japan which is one of the highest in the world, which means the Japanese government owns a lot of debt.

The US admin. doesn't seem to care about absolute advantage or anything related to the principles of international trade as they seem to be just throwing away 50 plus years of positive international trade ideas.

Japanese cars has been a significant growth engine for Japan and its been a solid growth engine in the US too related to the many Japanese car dealerships along all the related products for Japanese cars sold in the US.

There are going to be many jobs affected in the US as potentially higher prices might begin to decrease sales which means jobs in the US could be lost, not to mention all the jobs being affected in Japan too.

When there is a lot of uncertainty many companies don't know what to do so they wait and see which could put them at risk to a lot of different factors.

What is really unfortunate here is the US admin. is causing a lot of stress for many of its closest allies such as Mexico, Canada, Japan, South Korea, not to mention many or all of the countries in the EU.

Japan has been dealing with a lot of inflation since the pandemic as it looked like they were just beginning to move out it the inflation situation.

But with the Israel and Iran situation that could increase global oil prices which means again, higher oil prices for all in Japan.

Consumer sentiment in Japan is always a challenge as Japanese consumers just don't spend like they do in the US or even the EU, as they are more savers than spenders as they just don't spend enough to help the Japanese economy grow.

And when Japanese consumer sentiment is less than good or not not where it should be it makes the situation even worse.

The major challenge in Japan is Japanese consumers, Japanese households have had their income decrease for decades and now they are one of the lowest if not the lowest income producing country among advanced economies.

For example when all that Japanese consumers or Japanese households see is increased prices they and they hear about it constantly on the news they become very unhappy and their sentiment decreases and they only spend on the everyday basics that they need.

The rice situation in Japan is a significant collapse of the rice market in Japan as it should never have happened as some actors in the rice market have or are acting only in their best interest and not in the best interest of Japanese society or Japanese households.

Have a nice day!

Japan Current Account: Updated June 12, 2025.

Japan current account surplus in April rises 3.2% to 2.26 tril. yen

Article source:  https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20250609/p2g/00m/0bu/010000c

Ideas

Japan' current account is very important as it might be the only positive right now in the Japanese economy.

An economies current account is like a country's bank account as exports put money into the current account while imports take money out and imports actually reduce economic growth in an economy.

As Japan is resource-poor country, it has to import much of what is needs which means its economic growth is always going to be compromised because of imports.

Again, because Japan is resource-poor country and needs to import much of what it needs it has to balance out imports and exports in order to grow its economy.

Japan, it seems has become more visible again in the semiconductor global sector, which is still controlled by Taiwan and South Korea.

Japanese food exports have now become a major export product for Japan as Japanese food has been experiencing a renaissance of sorts which  means might Japanese food products are now very popular around the world.

Most likely the value of coal and oil might have decreased but not the actual volume of those commodities as again Japan is a resource-poor country and has to import much of what it needs.

Imports maybe more than exports are a major challenge for the Japanese economy, Japanese importers and Japanese households, and the weak Japanese yen and make it hard for all three groups, which means prices can be increased a lot.

The impact of the US tariffs haven't really affected US consumers or US companies just yet, as many US importer stocked up on their supplies before the tariff situation became a reality as many US companies haven't increased prices just yet, but they will have to eventually, and the tariff situation hasn't be resolved just yet.

It's a little too early to see any affect on US consumers and the buying of Japanese products but by the end of the summer there could be some major challenges.

But at the same time, as usual, the US admin. is already backtracking on some of its tariff talk related to key allies and export partners, suggesting another 90 day waiver.

Yes, the Japanese yen can play havoc with primary income as investing overseas is never a winning situation as a stronger Japanese yen can reduce direct investment over time.

Japanese companies and investors need to figure out how much they can lose and still be in overseas global markets as the Japanese yen is always going to be a major variable for Japanese investors.

In many instances, Japan is also a intellectual resource-poor country and has to depend on intellectual property from many global sources still in the 21st century.

Japan is not a major services trade country just yet, as it has to import more than what export in terms of services. 

Some of that is related to some or many Japanese companies or services just aren't marketable globally compared to other countries and their services.

Its logical that the travel surplus increased as the weak Japanese yen and the record number of foreign tourists was at an all time high in Japan, while the weak Japanese yen might have been a cause for some or many Japanese domestic travelers to forego traveling overseas.

And then there is the idea that the continued inflation situation in Japan has significantly reduced Japan's households from being able to save enough to take overseas trips recently.

Have a nice day!

Japan-March GDP: Updated June 13, 1025.

Japan Jan.-March GDP contraction revised up to annualized real 0.2%

Article source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20250609/p2g/00m/0bu/012000c

Ideas

Japan's economy always seems to be in a stagnant mode, as it might grow some for a few quarters and then it will decrease for a quarter.

Consumption or consumer spending has been the weak link in the four GDP links of consumer spending, business investment/spending, government spending and then exports-imports.

You would think that the exports of Japanese cars would be the main growth engine for the Japanese economy, but even the export of Japanese cars can't seem to stimulate enough growth in the Japanese economy recently.

Consumer sentiment or household sentiment is a major variable but for Japan it seems to be very low as continued inflation in Japan has all but deflated consumer sentiment except for the buying of just the needed essentials.

The GDP stat while a very important stat related to economic growth is not everything as likely most citizens of a country don't pay attention to it or don't even know what it means.

They do pay attention to their weekly or monthly wage and how much prices are going up or down related to their wage.

It's not that citizens are ignorant or not intelligent it's just they are too busy trying to survive and pay their bills and are not really into economic data.

Private consumption of consumer spending might have grown 0.1 percent but that really is not that much of a real change to get excited about.

Dining out and game software might have increased but again its not enough to say much about the growth of the Japanese economy.

The increase or decrease of inventories in an economy needs to be watched very carefully and too much of an increase  or too little of a decrease could be an indication of deeper challenges.

If inventories increase too much or remain above a certain level it could be an indication of demand is not good and or estimation of demand what not correct.

If inventories are too low the opposite could be said that demand it more than expected and or estimation of demand was off.

Capital investments are related to business sentiment and if business sentiment is down or businesses don't think an economy is going to improve in the coming months, then businesses are not going to invest.

Consumer sentiment and business sentiment seem to parallel each other as they increase or decrease in parallel fashion.

Exports used to be the main economic driver of the Japanese economy as the Japanese economy of late hasn't been able to rely on consumer spending or even business investment spending to grow the economy.

So yes, it seems the Japanese economy has lost its luster or maybe has lost it vision for the future as there seems to be no rising star to help grow the Japanese economy.

The US tariffs and Japanese cars really hasn't taken affect that much yet, due to the fact that US inventories of Japanese car has remained somewhat strong with inventories of two or three months worth of cars.

But then again its quit possible US car dealers might have begun to increase the prices of Japanese cars in anticipation of tariffs hitting their stock of cars.

Private consumption or consumer spending has always been the weak link in the Japanese economy and with the continued increase in inflation its not going to improve much.

Corporate investment is always dependent on what businesses see or feel about the economy in the coming months and now with the US tariff situation still unclear business investment is on hold until they know that is going to happen.

Again, the Japanese economy seems to have lost its vision or luster as there doesn't seem to be anything that can drive the Japanese economy like Japanese cars used to do or even semiconductors or even shipbuilding decades ago.

Nominal GDP is just the GDP with inflation included so you can see how much inflation has increased which also shows how much Japanese household consumer purchasing power has decreased from quarter to quarter.

Have a nice day!

Japan Rice Prices: Updated June 9, 2025.

Over half of rice producing firms in Japan feel store rice prices 'too high'

Article source:  https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20250607/p2g/00m/0na/029000c

Ideas

There might be something not right in the supply chain related to rice as Japan is known with a having multiples of layers in the supply chain which can increase the price for each chain member it goes to.

The price might start low with the rice producers but by the time it goes to the supermarket it might be very high even much higher than the rice producer price.

Yes, rice is a staple in Japan and is used it and with many different Japanese food dishes, but as anyone knows, if the price of a product begins to get too high consumers will cutback and or find substitutes.

There is always the possibility of Japanese consumers changing to foreign rice which is usually cheaper as it is not as popular and not in high demand which of course might mean a lower price product.

There is always the chance or possibility that some of the rice producers have formed some kind of cartel to keep the price high as they fear there might be another rice shortage like last summer.

The Japanese government needs to put price controls on the rice at supermarkets as a way to keep the prices down for the good of Japanese households.

And then, as needed, temporarily give subsidies to the supermarkets to make up for any losses that they might feel.

This strategy maybe should have been implemented from the very beginning, as again, the Japanese supply chains are structured in a way that the price goes up every time it goes through the supply chain system, as there are multiple layers in the supply chain.

The wholesalers and other middlemen in the Japanese rice market system only have themselves to blame as they are only looking out for themselves and not thinking about the good of Japanese society or Japanese households.

The head of the association of course is mainly only thinking about his association members and not really about all involved in the process and especially not about the low-income groups that might be the largest buyer of the rice.

And yes, the middlemen and wholesalers need to make a profit too, but again, there are just too many in the middlemen system which causes the price to be unnaturally too high.

It's important also to know what is the income level of those in the survey? If the respondents are from a high income group of course they might not think the price is too high or even consider the price appropriate but if they are from a low income group then of course they are going to think the price of rice is too high.

Maybe the Japanese middlemen system or wholesale system has worked efficiently for many years, but when the system has some hiccups likes last summer maybe its time to modify the system for the good of Japanese society and Japanese households, and the Japanese economy.

Of course the farm lobbying group is going to say its not too high, as again, he might be thinking only about his lobby group and not for the good of Japanese society or Japanese households.

That's the problem and challenge of a market system as sometimes different parts of a market system only think about their piece of the pie and don't see the big picture or everyone who is involved in the market.

And yes, to be fair, farm companies have the right to worry about the high price of purchasing facilities and machines for farming, and yes, its difficult to see the big picture when they only see their costs continuing to increase.

And yes, when the supply of a product is over-produced the price of a product can be much lower than when there is a shortage of a product.

So its quite possible some farmers might hold back how much they produced to look like there is a shortage to ensure that the price remains high, which what might have actually happened last summer in Japan. 

And yes, again, if the price of a product gets too high its only natural that some consumers are going to think twice about buying that product and or try to find substitutes for the product at a lower price.

And again, foreign rice might be a good substitute for the high priced Japanese rice as foreign price is not as popular or in high demand which means the price might be much lower.

Have a nice day!

Japan Rice Supply Chains: Updated June 15, 2025.

Soaring rice prices in Japan spotlight rigid supply chain structure

Article source: https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20250606/p2g/00m/0bu/011000c

Ideas

There must be a reason for the mult-layered supply chain as you would think a more simple supply chain of grower, processor, middleman, and the store would be enough.

Of course that is why maybe prices on some products are very high in Japan because of the complicated supply chains.

Everyone in the supply chains seems to want their cut or their gauranteed profit which all in the supply chain increase the price when it gets to them.

There might be many more in the supply chain that that listed in the article such as many more wholesalers where the products gets passed around from wholesaler to wholesaler before it reaches the supermarkets.

And even the Japan Agricultural Cooperative might move the products around from location to location before it even reaches the wholesalers too, as they might have arrangemtns that need to be taken care of in the cooperative.

The adding on of transporation fees and profits margins is nothing new around the world but in Japan its seems to take on a completely different meaning, as Japan's supply chains seem to be much more complicated and long compared to other countries.

Ultamtately its the final consumer the Japanes household that might suffer with the higher prices, but at the same time, the long/complicated supply chains might provide for many more jobs in Japan.

There are always going gto be positives and negatives in any system or supply chain and offering advanced payments to farmers to help with cover living and operational costs might be a good thing.

But then the negative might be later prices for products in the system might be higher because of the advanced payments, so there are positives and negativs to the supply chain system in Japan.

Yes, the Japan supply chain system might have some rigid parts to it, but until August of 2024 it seemed to be somewhat stable and good for Japan, or at least it seemed that way.

And yes, the market system in Japan might be too rigid not allowing for enough freedom of movement related to the supply and demand of products and especially fruits and vegetables.

So maybe the rice shortage of the summer of 2024 might turnout to be a good situation as it exposed the weaknesss of Japan's rice distribution system and how it not really based on supply and demand but more based on the cooperatives system of payments.

Can we call the summer of 2024 a market failure situation where rice, a staple for Japanese households, became a scarce resource.

That alone should be considered a major emergency but it took the Japanese government until early 2025 to release the rice reserves when they should have been released during the summer of 2024.

It appears the JA is/was acting like a cartel and controlling the price of rice instead of letting the market decide what the price should be.

And when the JA purchased the prices at high prices then then moved the rice products throught the Japan rice supply system and when it arrive at the supermarkets the price was already much higher than expected.

And again the JA was able to get 296,00 tons of the auction rice, or about 95 percent of the reserves which means kind of strange as again, it is/was acting like a cartel and not letting rice buyers get any of the reserves.

And in that way, again, the were able to control the rice market and drive the prices much higher than what the market prices should have been.

Supplying stockpiles through direct contacts is both a positive and negative but it definitely was better than the previous system which seeme to be like a cartel controlling the rice market.

Direct contacts might sound good but it cuts out the middleman which is not good too as they need to make a living. A better approach might be the reduce the overall middle group and just keep the essential middle group as a way to keep the price down as much as possible.

In this case, market invention might be needed, as again, the JA appeared to be a cartel that controlled the rice market and had no real intention of lowering rice prices for the good of Japanese society or Japanese households.

Market invervention is often needed with there is market failure or some group has too much market power, which seems to be the case with the JA and rice prices.

There needs to be as many retailers as possible selling the reserve rice and not just be for a few limited retailers and again that might look like a cartel type situation doing exactly the same thing as the JA was doing.

As some earlier articles have suggested, some farmers and even the JA might be holding back the rice that is actually out there wating for even higher prices to hit the market .

There should never have been a rice problem in Japan as rice is a major staple and should always be made available like eggs, milk, bread and maybe some kind of meat.

Even if Japan has to import more foreign rice and make sure the foreign rice is a little cheaper in order to get Japanese consumers to buy it and begin to like it and then there might be a continuous flow of rice into the supermarket at reasonable prices for Japanese households.

Have a nice day!