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!