THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

The agriculture ministry plans to export 350,000 tons of rice in 2030, nearly eight times the amount in 2024, as part of a new mechanism to prevent future rice shortages in Japan.

A steady reduction in rice acreage has led to an over-curbing of production, creating the current rice shortage and the sharp rise in prices.

The ministry’s plan is to expand production of rice for export and position this supply as an “adjustment valve” if another domestic shortage occurs.

The proposal will be included in the government’s basic plan for food, agriculture and rural areas, which is revised every five years. A council will receive the plan this week, and the Cabinet is expected to approve it at the end of March.

Japan exported 45,000 tons of rice in 2024. An additional ministry plan is to export 1 million tons by 2040.

Domestic demand for the staple has been steadily declining due to dietary shifts to noodles and bread as well as the shrinking population.

Farmers have been leaving the industry at an accelerating pace, but excess production capacity of rice remains.

Therefore, the government has been providing subsidies to encourage farmers to grow rice for animal feed, exports and other non-staple food uses.

For the 2024 rice harvest, rice paddies capable of producing 1.2 million tons of rice were allocated to non-staple food uses.

This was nearly six times the amount of stockpiled rice (210,000 tons) that the government now plans to release to reduce prices.

Currently, the amount of rice farmed for exports is less than 1 percent of the production for staple rice. If exports reach the target of 350,000 tons, the ratio will increase to about 5 percent.

Redirecting such rice to the domestic market during shortages will help the government prevent price increases and other disruptions.

Japanese rice is more expensive than rice grown in other countries due to its high production costs.

To ensure the Japanese variety is accepted overseas, the ministry will help Japanese food and support food service companies expand their businesses overseas.

The government will also seek to reduce production costs by expanding farmland, promoting “smart” agriculture products and techniques, and improving rice varieties to increase the yield per area.

Under the current plan devised in 2020, the ministry set a target of 5 trillion yen ($33.8 billion) in exports of all commodities, excluding rice. This goal will be maintained in the new plan.

The target for the food self-sufficiency ratio on a calorie basis will remain at the current level of 45 percent.

U.S. BRINGS UP JAPAN’S RICE TARIFFS

While Tokyo plans to send more rice overseas, the United States is taking aim at the process of how rice enters Japan.

At a news conference on March 11, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt criticized Japan for imposing a 700-percent tariff on rice imports.

After blasting Canada’s tariffs on U.S. agricultural products, Leavitt referred to India’s tariffs and then made a passing reference to Japanese rice.

She did not mention the basis for calculating the 700-percent tariff rate.

Leavitt also held a paper summarizing tariff rates imposed on U.S. agricultural products by Canada, India, Japan and other countries.

Although her only verbal reference to Japan was about rice, the paper showed the supposed tariff rates that Japan imposes on U.S. beef and dairy products.

Leavitt said U.S. President Donald Trump believes in reciprocity, and that all he wants are fair and balanced trade practices.

On April 2, Trump is set to impose reciprocal tariffs so that U.S. tariffs will be raised to the levels imposed by other countries.

If Washington takes issue with Japan’s tariffs on rice and imposes high tariffs on Japanese cars and other imported products, Japanese industries could suffer a major blow.

(This article was compiled from reports written by Hirobumi Ohinata, and correspondent Ken Sakakibara.)

Published Date: March 12, 2025