Price of rice in Japan falls below ¥4k per 5kg

原始链接: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/06/24/japan/japan-rice-price-falls-below-4000/

Rice prices in Japan have fallen below ¥4,000 per 5 kilograms for the first time since early March, according to the agriculture ministry. The average price dropped to ¥3,920 in the week ending June 15, a significant decrease of ¥256 from the previous week. This marks the fourth consecutive week of decline and the biggest drop since March 2022. The price decrease is attributed to the government's release of stockpiled rice under discretionary contracts, aiming to bring prices down to the ¥3,000-¥4,000 range. Major and smaller retailers are now selling this rice at around ¥2,000 per 5 kilograms. While Prime Minister Ishiba's goal is being approached, Agriculture Minister Koizumi emphasized that continued efforts are necessary to maintain price stability despite the current positive trend. The average price remains considerably higher than the previous year's level.

A Hacker News thread discusses a Japan Times article about falling rice prices in Japan, now below ¥4k per 5kg. Several commenters provide context, linking to older HN discussions about high rice prices, government stockpile releases, and rice shortages in Japan from 2024-2025. The conversation then pivots to rice prices and quality in other countries. One user notes Costco in the US sells rice for about 1/4 the price of Japanese-grown rice. Other users from the UK provide price comparisons for rice they can easily purchase. Commenters debate the quality differences between Japanese rice and cheaper varieties, particularly those sold at Costco, with several people asserting that Japanese rice has a distinctively better taste. Others discuss ways to reduce arsenic levels in rice during cooking. Some users also point out that same rice can be brought from US.

The average price of rice sold at about 1,000 supermarkets across Japan in the week through June 15 stood at ¥3,920 per 5 kilograms, slipping below ¥4,000 for the first time since the week that ended on March 2, the agriculture ministry said Monday.

The average price was down by ¥256 from the previous week, declining for the 4th straight week and marking the first drop exceeding ¥100 since March 2022, when the ministry started releasing weekly rice prices.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba had aimed to push down rice prices to the ¥3,000-¥4,000 range by as early as mid-June.

The significant drop likely reflected the distribution of government stockpiled rice released under discretionary contracts.

Despite the fall, the average rice price was still ¥1,772 higher than that of a year earlier.

Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi told reporters on Monday that the country has "taken a step forward on a new stage toward curbing abnormally high rice prices."

He added, however, "Just because the average rice price fell to the ¥3,900 range, it does not mean that we can relax our efforts."

At the end of last month, major retailers started selling stockpiled rice released under discretionary contracts with the government at around ¥2,000 per 5 kilograms.

The addition of smaller retailers, including smaller supermarkets, to the list of businesses selling the stockpiled rice further boosted the effectiveness of the government's measures to tackle soaring price prices.