STORY: Japanese farmer Kazuhachi Hosaka has been growing rice for 30 years.
But over that time, he’s seen his industry steadily dwindle:
Rice prices never went up and farmers couldn’t turn a profit, he says, with many quitting as a result.
Successive governments tried to tackle the problem with incentives to grow other crops.
They hoped that would limit the supply of rice, and drive up prices.
Suddenly, however, everything has changed – including government policy.
Rice prices in Japan have roughly doubled following a bad harvest in 2023.
That has boosted profits for farmers, but horrified consumers who depend on the staple grain.
And even the growers aren’t really pleased – they’re worried the high prices could drive shoppers to switch to cheaper imports.
With an upper house election looming, Kanda University of International Studies expert Jeffrey Hall says farming is high on the agenda:
“From a political point of view, rice has always been sort of an important staple food for Japan, so if its price goes up or if it doubles, that’s a big deal for a lot of voters, and protecting rice farmers, protecting Japan from cheap foreign rice has always been a big issue for politicians, especially conservative politicians in Japan.”
Reversing decades of policy, Tokyo is now trying to encourage more rice production.
It’s set a target of exporting about 385,000 U.S. tons by 2030 – an eightfold jump on last year’s level.
Ministers say that production could then be switched back to the domestic market in the event of a shortage.
As a short-term measure, they’ve also released rice from government stockpiles, selling it to consumers at around half the regular market price.
Adding another layer of pressure, however, is Donald Trump.
“They won’t take rice and yet they desperately need rice. You know that. But they won’t take rice.”
He has cited Japan’s limited imports of U.S. rice as a big stumbling block to a trade deal.
Now farmer Hosaka broadly supports the move to boost production, but says growers will need help to revert back from other crops.
And he’s far from confident about the future, especially if it involves more imports.
Rice is our staple food, he says, and we shouldn’t be dependent on other nations to get it.
