"Prices Won't Drop Anyway"... Japanese Dealers Already Paying Premiums to Stock Up on Fresh Rice

Purchase Price in Akita Prefecture Rises 37% Year-on-Year

As rice prices continue to surge in Japan, an unusually early competition to secure freshly harvested rice for 2025 has already begun. On April 29, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) reported that agricultural cooperatives (JA) across Japan have entered a race to secure rice that will be harvested this autumn.

JA, which handles about 40% of total rice production, purchases rice from producers and sells it to wholesalers and retailers. The regions where JA has raised the purchase price for rice from producers include Akita, Niigata, and Fukui prefectures on Honshu.

Reuters Yonhap News

In these regions, JA plans to purchase this year's rice at around 23,000 yen (approximately 232,252 yen) per 60 kilograms. Compared to the previous year, rice prices in major production areas have increased by 37% in Akita, 35% in Niigata, and 28% in Fukui.

Japan typically sets rice purchase prices just before the harvest in August or September. However, this year, discussions have begun even before rice planting is in full swing, due to concerns over supply shortages, according to the Nikkei. The newspaper also reported that some regional JAs have set this year's rice purchase prices 30% to 40% higher than last year, and as a result, even when freshly harvested rice is released to the market, retail rice prices may not fall significantly. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, private rice inventories in Japan stood at 2.05 million tons at the end of February, down 16% compared to the same period last year.

The Nikkei noted, "Although reserve rice began to be released in stores from late March, the shortage remains severe," adding that competition among private businesses and rice wholesalers to secure rice is intensifying.

In Japan, rice prices have been steadily rising since around last summer, and although the government has repeatedly released reserve rice, the upward trend has yet to be curbed.

The rise in rice prices has continued for 16 consecutive weeks. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the nationwide retail price of rice at supermarkets for the week of April 14?20 was 4,220 yen for 5 kilograms, up 3 yen from the previous week.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.