Eight bags containing 240 kilograms of Koshihikari rice, worth about 90,000 yen, have been stolen from outside a farmer's warehouse in Takashima City, Shiga Prefecture.
The farmer notified police at around 7 a.m. on Monday, NTV reported. According to the police, the rice was stolen between 10 p.m. on Sunday and 6:30 a.m. on Monday.
At the time, 80 bags of Koshihikari rice were stored in the warehouse. The stolen bags were under a blue tarp outside the warehouse and were scheduled to be shipped out this week.
Haruo Kaneda, the farmer who grew the rice, told reporters: “It's not so much about the money; I'm angry that they took my rice."
Police said that last month, evidence of an attempt to break the lock on the door of a warehouse where rice was stored at another farm in Takashima City was found. Police believe the two incidents may be linked.
© Japan Today
23 Comments
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Yohan
Stealing from farmers is not so rare, I am living near a rural area with many fruit farms around and every year there are reports about stolen grapes, peaches, kaki, pears...
Some people are not ashamed to enter these fields during night and take some fruits away for free.
I never heard however about stolen rice bags from farmers.
I do not consider stealing 240 kg rice, value of about yen 90.000,- to be a minor crime. What can a person do with 240 kg rice? Selling it to somebody I guess. It cannot be for own consumption like stealing some fruits.
Concerned Citizen
So glad to be a resident of a country where such a minor crime makes national news.
Yohan
No idea if foreigner or Japanese, but this person stealing rice bags must have insider knowledge - you cannot just walk around or ride on a bicycle and carry away 240 kg of rice which you found 'accidentally'.
This person knows where rice is stored and shows up during late night with a small car (kei-car?) as rural roads are often very narrow and transports these heavy rice bags to somewhere, likely not so far away.
Unfortunately rural streets are often very dark, no street lights at all and there are only a few cameras installed.
Police cannot do much about except driving around in these remote located farming area during late night and look out if there are some suspicious cars in places where normally is hardly even a single car seen past midnight.
It's really sad that a farmer in Japan has to be worried about that somebody is coming during night and stealing his products.
Strangerland
You’re just learning that buying in volume usually brings down the unit price? No one ever taught you about wholesale vs retail?
ian
Anyway 3K / 5kg isn't so bad now. Before the rice shortages I buy at around 2200-2300/5kg koshihikari from the nearest supermarket
ian
I'm quite sure the farmer would be willing to sell the rice at the same price to you if you buy at least 1 bag
リッチ
That averages out to 1800 yen for 5kg. How can o buy rust for so cheap. Supermarket near my place is 3000 yen now
robert maes
There is no rice shortage.
only greedy agents and retailers
kaimycahl
@Data ALL SPECULATION and we all know who you are pointing fingers at who the possible culprits are. Its hard to ignore how many times you did this in your post, but its obvious.
While it's difficult to say for certain who's involved, the way things are playing out suggests a repeat of the same dynamics. For those who've observed these events before, certain elements tend to reappear. It wouldn’t be unexpected if the same forces are at work once again. While I won't claim to know exactly who's behind it, there's a sense of familiarity to how things are unfolding. If you've been following these kinds of events, you might notice certain elements seem to show up time and time again. It wouldn’t be surprising if it's the usual suspects involved here once more. It's hard to ignore the fact that the same forces always seem to be involved whenever something like this happens. I’m not saying for certain who’s responsible, but it definitely feels like a repeat of what we’ve seen before. If you've been paying attention, you know what I mean—it’s starting to look like the usual suspects are at it again.
shogun36
Rice theft is becoming the new Pokemon card theft ring.
Hide yo grains!
Ramzel
So 240 kilograms of rice is worth only 90.000 yen? So why does a 10 kg bag cost almost 8000 nowadays?
Wholesale price VS retail price.
If you’re willing to buy at that volume and direct from the source everything is cheaper.
wallace
Sounds like someone knew it was there.
wallace
Shortage of rice and higher prices driving someone to crime.
Speed
Hope it's not FOREIGNERS to blame again. (There. I said it since everyone else seems to be alluding to them.)
Yubaru
Whether they are in reality linked or not, the cops will do their best to connect the parallel lines and whomever they catch will be assumed to be guilty!
DanteKH
I feel very sorry for the farmer. All his hard work stollen by some low life scum.
The Nomad
So 240 kilograms of rice is worth only 90.000 yen? So why does a 10 kg bag cost almost 8000 nowadays?
Mie Fox
Stealing the fruits of other people's hard labour is the worst. Japan really should step up more to prevent these kinds of thefts and help farmers to protect their crop, financially to help them physically protect the harvest, and agressively checking supply routes to prevent illegal sales of the stolen goods for starters. And throw the book at the thieves when they are caught!
Mr Kipling
Usual suspects? Wait and see...