By Choi Ji-hui

As rice prices surge in Japan, the reviews from Japanese tourists who visited Korea to buy rice have become a hot topic.

A Japanese individual who identified as a middle-aged housewife shared her experience of buying rice to bring back to Japan on her social media on the 6th. She mentioned that after traveling to Cebu, Philippines, she purchased 4 kg of white rice and 5 kg of brown rice while passing through Korea.

She noted, “My mission in Seoul was to buy rice and return home,” adding, “Since rice prices are too expensive in Japan, I decided to buy some while I was in Korea.”

In Japan, the price of 10 kg of rice has risen to about 8,000 yen (approximately 80,000 won), while in Korea it is around 3,000 yen (approximately 30,000 won), which is much cheaper, according to her explanation.

To bring rice purchased abroad back to Japan, one must go through quarantine procedures. She provided detailed information about these quarantine procedures, stating, “The rice purchased must be declared at both the departure airport in Korea and the arrival airport in Japan,” adding, “There was a sample of the document form, so it wasn’t difficult to fill out.”

To bring the rice back, one must submit the export phytosanitary certificate received from the quarantine officer at the quarantine counter in the Japanese airport. She mentioned, “The quarantine procedure took 30 minutes,” adding, “The rice was heavy, so I felt like I was doing muscle training.”

She posted a photo of herself bringing rice to Japan, stating, “I was able to safely bring the rice from Korea,” and added, “There is a relatively increasing trend among Japanese people to purchase rice overseas recently.”

Another Japanese netizen posted a video on social media on the 10th, capturing a scene at a Lotte department store in Korea where Japanese variety “Koshihikari” rice was being sold. He remarked, “The price of Koshihikari rice in Korea is cheaper than before the rice price explosion in Japan,” adding, “Shouldn’t it be reimported back to Japan?”

Since last summer, rice prices in Japan have been continually rising due to a shortage of supply. The Japanese government has released stored rice twice in succession to lower the skyrocketing prices, but it has been reported that wholesale rice prices are still increasing. The Japanese government plans to release additional stored rice until prices stabilize.

Published Date: April 14, 2025