Japan aims to increase rice exports 8-fold to 350,000 tons in 2030

Typical. Japan believes it should be allowed to expand rice exports 8x but ban the import of foreign rice.

Only 38% of food consumed in Japan is produced domestically! That is a very dangerous situation.

Great to see the government focus on the problem of low productivity in agriculture.

If there is such an abundance, the domestic price should be far more reasonable. Why are they squeezing their own people this way?

If there is such an abundance, the domestic price should be far more reasonable.

There's not "an abundance"...there is a "plan" to increase production

> the need to enhance productivity in addition to expanding exports, noting that geopolitical risks and a decline in domestic farmers have destabilized food production and supply in the country.

Production can only be increased if there are more farmers growing rice. Change to high yield varieties.

Who abroad is buying it? The ex pats and the Japan obsessed abroad would be it. Meanwhile Taro's who live here end up paying double.

350,000 tons, worth 92.2 billion yen, in 2030 

At the current rate, a single 10kg bag of rice at the grocery store will probably cost that much by then.

Typical. Japan believes it should be allowed to expand rice exports 8x but ban the import of foreign rice.

Exactly.

Production can only be increased if there are more farmers growing rice. 

Shall we purchase a rice field in our old age? We can meet up for a canned coffee at our shared vending machine between our two rice fields.

"Rice was the 447th most exported product in Japan. The main destinations of Rice exports from Japan are: Hong Kong ($18.5M), United States ($14.4M), Sao Tome and Principe ($9.88M), Singapore ($8.92M), and Chinese Taipei ($6.35M)."

Very Good, Japanese rice is amongst the best in the world.

Good Luck

Bureaucracy just crunching numbers. Solve the domestic situation first. And export only the real surplus and let in varieties from abroad.

Triple the amount of exports in 5 years? Be Ambitious Boys.

The government aims to increase the total value of agricultural and food exports from 1.5 trillion yen in 2024 to 5 trillion yen in 2030,

Very Good, Japanese rice is amongst the best in the world.

Each rice is best for that regional cuisine.

Due to stickiness, Japanese rice is not the most suitable rice variety for most dishes beyond East Asia.

For example: if you are making risotto, pilaf or paella then Carnaroli, Arborio or Baldo are better options.

Also, for god sake, just produce enough rice to feed Japanese first so we don't have to keep hearing silly statements like "Foreign tourists eating all the rice in Japan".

Population is shrinking and the land available to farm should also be increasing in theory, but yet I see rice fields being turned into housing around Kanto. I also don't see a new generation of rice farmers. I'm really curious how the J-Gov is going to promote rice farming as a career/hobby and stop agricultural land from being developed.

One possible solution of course is to bring in immigrants, which is how Canada was able to grow and develop its agriculture. The difference however is that in Canada, land was seen as an investment, while in Japan, owning agricultural land isn't a great investment. Its also much more difficult to just buy a farm/land in Japan right after you get off the plane.

Go Japan..

You can do it..

Very Good, Japanese rice is amongst the best in the world.

100% true..

Like it or not..

Exports when you don’t have enough to bring down the cost of rice in Japan to the same price as neighboring countries. These people are just stupid.

I get really excited when people talk about rice.

Japan consumes approximately 6.6 million tons of rice a year, meaning the 350,000-ton export target would be equivalent to around half a month's domestic consumption.

Japan imports about 350,000 tons of rice from the US, tariff free, anything above that is tariffed at 400%. They did this in response to a World Trade Org. agreement in the early '90s. This is about a half months domestic consumption. Something seems off in the current rice shortage. So who is pocketing the profit?

Simply shift the domestic rice to human consumption and the imported rice to Moo the cow and Cluck the chicken, they won't notice and everyone will be happy except the grifters.

Not to the US with 700% tariffs on domestic rice imports.

April 2nd Japan's US rice tariffs will be 700% = reciprocal

If Japan hadn’t exported 45,000 tons of rice in 2024 then perhaps there would not be a shortage this year. I do not see how increasing exports helps shortages at home.

Yields could always be improved by switching to more high yielding rice varieties, and as the article says, by increasing the size of the farms. But with the average age of Japanese farmers being something like 70 years old it doesn't seem realistic.

maxjapankToday  08:07 am JST

Shall we purchase a rice field in our old age? We can meet up for a canned coffee at our shared vending machine between our two rice fields.

Good one.

Due to stickiness, Japanese rice is not the most suitable rice variety for most dishes beyond East Asia.

For example: if you are making risotto, pilaf or paella then Carnaroli, Arborio or Baldo are better options.

Speaking of suitable rice for dishes. When I first came to Japan, I invited some friends over for dinner. I was only going to make Chahan (fried rice), but I still thought that the more expensive the rice, the better it would be. So I bought a small bag of the most expensive stuff in the store. I couldn't figure out why my Chahan became so sticky until my girlfriend noticed I had purchase Mochi-gome.

They should cut down on exports if there's a shortage here at home like they claim. The prices domestically are way too high.

The plan to boost exports through improved production is also seen as a way to secure sufficient domestic supply of the Japanese staple to avoid shortages.

There

Imagine amount of money rice farmers are paying to Japanese Govt. Bureaucrats and Politicians to protect their markets 'excessive profits'.

Above, the CORE Problem with Tariffs, higher prices for consumers based on corrupt business Govt. dealings, with higher prices damaging overall economic activity.

HopeSpringsEternal

Today 12:28 pm JST

Imagine amount of money rice farmers are paying to Japanese Govt. Bureaucrats and Politicians to protect their markets 'excessive profits'.

Farmers?

ianToday  12:52 pm JST

HopeSpringsEternal

Today 12:28 pm JST

Imagine amount of money rice farmers are paying to Japanese Govt. Bureaucrats and Politicians to protect their markets 'excessive profits'.

Farmers?

Rice growers, producers, etc. Do semantics really matter?

Point's tariffs badly hurt economic growth and punish consumers with High Prices, while Enriching Political Class and Rice "Growers" benefiting from HIGH Prices

Sounds like Chinese Communist Party during great leap forward.

Export food while starve their own citizens..

T.4Today  01:31 pm JST

Sounds like Chinese Communist Party during great leap forward.

Export food while starve their own citizens..

Totally concur, crazy times indeed, as who would've imagined Japan could go full circle so rapidly?

That's a gorgeous photo.

KumagaijinToday  09:00 am JST

Population is shrinking and the land available to farm should also be increasing in theory, but yet I see rice fields being turned into housing around Kanto. I also don't see a new generation of rice farmers. I'm really curious how the J-Gov is going to promote rice farming as a career/hobby and stop agricultural land from being developed.

One possible solution of course is to bring in immigrants, which is how Canada was able to grow and develop its agriculture. The difference however is that in Canada, land was seen as an investment, while in Japan, owning agricultural land isn't a great investment. Its also much more difficult to just buy a farm/land in Japan right after you get off the plane.

Was going to come here to say exactly that. I would also add that the climate has been out of control in recent years making agricultural work a high risk. Many farmers are losing their valuable crops to heat/ flooding/ parasites/ labor shortages and we're currently seeing this unfold as we are short on rice currently. Who would want to invest in such a high risk low return business? Might as well use up that land on something else like producing more energy domestically.

Farmers dying off and not being replaced, industry must automate rapidly, huge market chance. Unfortunately for Japan, given aging and depopulation, less motivation as rice and other foodstuffs consumption's steadily dropping.

At a time of high domestic rice prices the timing of this announcement - indeed the announcement itself - shows crass insensitivity on the part of the Government

Ishiba's going down in flames, as he can't even manage Japan's rice market - you call that at world leader? I don't think so!

And here we are paying over ¥7,000 for 10 kgs while the government wants to export the dwindling crop harvest abroad !!

Ridiculous!!!

Irrationals talking about export of rice without correct misstep of farm policy that has caused unstable supply or shortage or price hike of rice, It's ridiculous plan by government who has no interest to life of citizen.

Last October I was able to buy 30 kg of brown rice from a local farmer for ¥8,500. Good rice too. Y283/kg.

By comparison, here in California we exported about 1,000,000 tons of rice last year, mostly to Asia. That is about three times as much as what the Japanese government would like to export. Not sure how badly reciprocal tariffs will affect that number. On the down side, rice growers over here are able to export at an artificially low price due to their not having to pay for the cost of their water. Once again, the middle class gets stuck with the bill.

Water's free in Cali and Japan as farmer's pay to run their pumps to get the fresh water into their fields, orchards etc.

Govt. in US and Japan do not spend on water which is all from nature and run-off and if they did charge farmers, it would just get $passed on at the grocery store.

Japan's rice problem's lack of farmers, land and tariff policy fueling political $corruption and high consumer prices

Water for the rice fields comes from rivers via irrigation systems. Farmers are not charged for that. No one uses piped water.

Increase rice exports 8 fold?

Where will that leave the Japanese consumer?

Paying more I expect.

I am happy to eat imported rice but it’s as rare as hens’ teeth…

California farmers pay for water, with costs varying depending on the source and location, and some areas even have programs that incentivize water conservation through payments for fallowing fields. 

Water prices can vary significantly, ranging from as low as $1.00 per acre-foot to potentially $500-1000 or more in times of water stress. 

The cost of delivering State Water Project water ranges from $250 per acre-foot in the San Joaquin Valley to $600 per acre-foot in Southern California and as high as $1,440 per acre-foot on the Central Coast.

kurisupisu

Increase rice exports 8 fold?

> Where will that leave the Japanese consumer?

> Paying more I expect.

> I am happy to eat imported rice but it’s as rare as hens’ teeth…

Easy to find online or in Halal shops like the one next to Kobe Mosque.

Japanese rice from Niigata, Akita, Sapporo areas ( production year 2024 ) are being sold for AUD15 ~ AUD20 ( 1,500¥ to 2,000¥ ) for 5kg in many Asian grocery shops here down in Sydney! All the while my mates from Japan say that’s it’s almost 5,000¥ in Japan!!! How is that even possible!!!

I wonder how much of those exports will be sourced from other countries.

Farmers are getting older and dying. Not many young people want to live in the countryside and grow rice.

Even if someone rice to become a farmer, it is not that easy to buy farmland unless the law has changed. There is or at least used to be a law that allows only farmers who have been farmers for a number of years to buy land registered as farmland.

It seems that when the current owners of farmland get too old to farm rice many switch rice farms to solar power farms.

That is only 6 bulk carriers extra by 2030. Bulk carriers capacity id 60,000 tons plus. Anyway old one off small farmer exiting freeing up small rice farming land it will benefit the young rice farmer willing to buy bigger headers and strageticly buying rice farming land south to north so to stagger planting and cropping. The south plant early and harvest early compare to the north. I know a few young rice farmer willing to invest in buying ups these smaller holding and develop system of strategic rice farming. Small one off holding risk knock downs and that could mean a year work down the drain. Having farms spread up and down Honshu and Kyushu minimising crop failures. Plus the demand to export more rice see a bright future for the young rice farmer willing to employ risk management and modern strategic farming method,

Japan's becoming too poor too rapidly to afford high tariffs, that besides protecting certain industries and sectors, like rice farming with higher profits, also fund $donations & $kickbacks to Politicians and Bureaucrats

Why? The people NEED to Eat!

Japan's becoming too poor too rapidly to afford high tariffs, that besides protecting certain industries and sectors, like rice farming with higher profits, also fund $donations & $kickbacks to Politicians and Bureaucrats

What's with the constant misuse of the "$"?

I would boycott Japanese rice.

Japan slaps something like a 700% tariff on US rice.

The majority of Japanese will buy their rice above any imported rice. it's the one best suited for their cuisine.

The cost of Japanese grown rice is hugely expensive, so just who they would be hoping to export to, and how much it can be subsidized for export is a baffling question.

It seems strange that Japan can reduce prices for export to others and yer keep prices so high domestically.

There are a number of countries that produce copious amounts of rice at very cheap prices, so competing with them will be very difficult in the extreme.

@wallace

If I can’t find products I want near my home then I’ll just buy pasta or potatoes.