KYODO NEWS.

TOKYO: Japan’s private rice imports have already reached a record-high 468 tons in the current fiscal year through March, driven by robust demand from restaurants amid soaring prices for the domestic crop, according to government data.

The import volume from April to December last year, the highest since the farm ministry began collecting data in fiscal 2019, was equivalent to about 6.5 million bowls of steamed rice and higher than the 350 to 450 tons annually imported by firms in recent years.

The record figure came despite the imposition by the government of a tariff of 341 yen ($2) per kilogram on privately imported rice, implemented to protect domestic output and prices.

The private imports came on top of the around 770,000 tons of rice imported by the Japanese government, mainly from the United States, China and Thailand, under the minimum access commitment set by the 1993 Uruguay Round agreement on trade in agriculture.

Of the customs-free imports controlled by the government, the up to 100,000 tons per year destined for the private sector for staple food use was sold out for the first time in seven years.

In 2024, rice prices surged 27.7 percent from the previous year, the biggest increase since 1975, reflecting rising production costs and short supply, according to consumer price data. In December alone, prices soared 64.5 percent from a year earlier.

An official of a major Japanese trading house that imports rice said there was strong demand from the restaurant sector, while an official of the Matsuya beef bowl chain operator, which uses imported rice, said stable supply is “absolutely needed.”

Published Date: February 16, 2025