Japanese rice dealers turn to China amid domestic consumption drop

People cannot afford extortion prices during this pandemic! Another way China will try to extort Japan like the travel industry.

But such an attempt is unlikely to succeed if Japan's relations with China worsen amid continued tension between China and the United States, a key ally for Japan.

It would take no time flat to see news about a Chinese boycott of Japanese rice if the Japanese government does anything that the CCP doesn't like.

These are the harsh realities facing many food producing nations; high quality grains and produce is earmarked for export to countries willing and able to pay the most for them. The same food brokers then import the cheapest foreign grown goods raised without high standards , thus doubling the profit of the middleman at the expense of the health of the consumer.

How it works here:

the goods are not sold for some reason and the seller has a loss. So he raises the price and possibly adds a "premium" sticker or advertising to make the goods he was already selling exclusive. A few people who hear "exclusive" buy it, but as a result the seller makes even bigger losses. The goods are expensive and so the ordinary customer buys the goods elsewhere. This means even less sales.

How it works elsewhere:

Goods don't sell for a reason, so the seller has a loss. In order to cover the losses, the seller tries to at least lower the price and thus reduce the costs involved (storage, etc). The goods are sold, albeit at a loss, but not an absolute loss. And it adapts to the current situation with some forward-looking plan.

Agriculture in Japan is heavily subsidized. Rice sold overseas is then subsidized again to cover the sales and promotion costs, probably the transportation cost too.

rice consumption has fallen by around 100,000 tons each year

Or about 800g per capita per year. The average person now eats rice about twelve times fewer per year than some bygone age when many shops didn't sell pasta or non-chemical bread. Given that lots of marginal paddy fields are now abandoned or have solar panels sitting on them reducing supply, this is not a problem that needs to have money thrown at it.

I started eating more rice last year after buying several kgs because I thought there would be a food shortage at the start of the pandemic. Boy was I wrong. I still have lots of rice left. I think if the J-gov encouraged people to be better prepared for disasters or food shortages, consumption would increase. Just like toilet paper, people need to have a few extra around the house.

I think if the J-gov encouraged people to be better prepared for disasters or food shortages

The government strongly urges people to be prepared for disasters. Just because you can't read it, and didn't bother to check if it exists, doesn't mean it isn't there.

Don't get too dependent on Chinese markets.

They have a long history of finding problems with imports whenever political issues flare up. If you ant an example of this, just have a look at Australian food imports into China.

China has turned itself into an unreliable market for exporters. Look for other markets to rely on.

Boycott china !

They will buy your products make you dependent then turn you off when they decide they want to make a point, dont fall for their traps

Ask Australia how it goes !!!

Exactly. That’s the point, @Bjorn T.

China uses trade as a weapon. If you’re going to trade then you’ll have to tread softly.

Australia is being punished just for a Wuhan comment.

China is Japan's biggest trading partner and will be for a long, long time. Sorry you Nippon Kaigi guys, Japan needs to export to China, just as it needs to import.

Boycott china !

In the current case, it's like saying "boycott money".

I don't see many companies going bankrupt for national preference.

Sad but money rules.

Chinese Rice is .... not really nice tasting, and lacks that stickiness needed for some dishes.

Chinese Rice is ... Cheap and Cheerful... well maybe not the latter once you consider how its got to you.

Chinese Rice is ... Real ? These days can you really be sure ?

Chinese Rice is .... not really nice tasting,

Surprisingly true. Bland best describes it. The best rice is Calrose but you pay a premium for it.

Can't imagine Chinese consumers picking up Japanese rice given Fukushima reputations. Must be Japanese restaurants picking them up since it's hard to reproduce authentic sushi taste with Chinese rice.

Can't imagine Chinese consumers picking up Japanese rice given Fukushima reputations. 

How much does the average Chinese worker know about what happened at Fukushima? With China building nuclear reactors like they were on sale at Costco one wonders if for the sake of "social stability" the CCP has allowed that story to be told? In any event Chinese consumers very much distrust their own rice knowing it is full of heavy metals from the contaminated soil it is grown in and the sparkling clean (lol) water it is irrigated with. Not all the rice grown in Japan is affected by Fukushima.

I like rice. But here in Canada, Japanese rice is priced beyond belief. I've never understood why people buy it, when it's the most common food commodity sold around the world. I'll take Thai jasmine and Vietnamese rice varieties before I ever blow a wad on Japanese rice. Even for my homemade sushi.

 I'll take Thai jasmine and Vietnamese rice varieties before I ever blow a wad on Japanese rice.

A friend was married to a Thai woman who's family grew rice there. On his visits he was freaked out about some of the dangerous farming practices in Thailand. The farmers are mostly illiterate and do not read the instructions for using chemical herbicides and pesticides. It's just open the container and dump. The irrigation water has animal and human waste. People wash clothes in it. My wife and I will never buy rice from Thailand. We stick to Calrose for the most part even though it costs a bit more. I have honestly never seen Japanese rice in any of the Asian superstores we shop, just Thai, Vietnamese, Indian and California rice.

Decoupling is impossible for Japan.