Japan opposition lawmaker says rice reserves mostly go to chickens

Honorable humans don't

He most likely grew up with a silver spoon up his behind.

government rice reserves recently put on sale are mostly consumed by chickens

Problably and it's a problem but not the one those senile guys say.

To produce meat, eggs and dairy, farm animals are fed partly with grains, legumes and other plant that the humans could eat directly.

The issue is that in case of shortage farmers keep feeding as many animals as usual., which increases the problem. If countries decided to arrange with the farmers to reduce number of farmed animals (not forever, just one season) when they see stocks going low, they'd avoid the crisis.

Japan has not done it for rice this year. European countries did not do it for wheat when the Ukrainian crisis started. Incompetent politicians.

there could be contaminants in it."

Scoop : there are contaminants in Japanese produce, old or new.

Speaking to reporters...

Did any reporter there have the common sense to then ask him what he would do instead to swiftly reduce the price of what is clearly price-gouged rice in this obviously broken system?

I understand what he means, Koizumi and other gov't leaders are cheering on this rice like it is the most expensive brand you could buy, when in fact it is 4 year old rice that would usually be used as animal feed. But since the LPD and JA has totally screwed the consumer with high rice prices, people are forced to buy and eat it, which makes his comments a bit insensitive! Also, he is trying to help win an election and this rice issue is gaining strength for the LDP so he is trying to tamp that down as well.

"Chickens are the ones mostly eating that really old rice. Honorable humans don't."

Now I know why domestic chicken costs so much!

Time for Jgov to reduce the 700% tariffs on foreign rice imports. They said tariffs were bad for world trade, didn’t they?

The cost of 1 kilogram of whit rice:

China cost between $0.59 and $1.09 per Kilogram.

South Korea cost between $1.51 and $1.79 per kilogram. 

Taiwan cost between $0.64 and $2.20 per kilogram.

USA costs between $1.02 and $1.70 per kilogram. 

Japan costs around $4.50 (USD) or ¥500 per kilogram.

Why so expensive?? simple JA controls and monopoly on prices.

The man has a point !!! Truth be told .

Farmers are NOT allowed to sell their rice on their own, they must surrender it to JA.

The best solution would be using government subsidies to reduce the prices of fine quality rice by half, making it affordable for honorable humans. They’re already doing this to reduce electricity bills and gasoline prices.

Kazuhiro-kun is right. He's calling it for what it is. It usually is fed to chickens and other animals. This truth shouldn't be censored.

Why so expensive?? simple JA controls and monopoly on prices.

Actually it isnt just as simple as blaming JA. The government has been paying subsidizes to farmers for decades. The farmers of Japan have been the main supporters of the LDP since the LDP took control of the country following the occupation after WW2

JA controls, in a manner of speaking, the agriculture vote, which kept the LDP in power.

https://www.rieti.go.jp/en/papers/contribution/yamashita/127.html

"A" for honesty, by "F" for political acumen!

Time to retire.

Aren’t there also struggling single parent families in Japan that would benefit from kokokomai?

Two people called the rice animal feed and people are still defending 4-year-old brown rice in silos

The chickens are getting a better diet than I thought they were.

"It's 83 yen per 5 kilograms. That costs more than 2,000 yen," the 65-year-old House of Representatives lawmaker said. 

83 yen/5 kg. Wow.

JA and retail corporations are making an absolute killing from marking up this dirt-cheap rice, usually designated for animal feed.

Haraguchi is not wrong. Rice prices are clearly artificially high in Japan, and it needs to change.

The cost per kilogram to the farmer to grow the rice is about ¥300. But on some farms, the costs are higher.

What are the chickens going to eat you watch there will be egg crisis soon.

I paid $23 bucks for a 5kg sack of Hokkaido-grown rice in Boston this week.

That’s ¥3,200.

Shipped all the way here and still much cheaper than in Japan.

Even when stored under ideal conditions, polished rice goes stale after 2 years, so he is correct.

I paid ¥8500 ($66). ($1.88/kg) for a 30kg bag of brown rice from a farmer. I was gifted 15 kg, and again this week I received a further gift of 15 kg. Our current rice stock is about 20 kgs until the new rice arrives.

Facts!

wallace

I paid ¥8500 ($66). ($1.88/kg) for a 30kg bag of brown rice from a farmer. I was gifted 15 kg, and again this week I received a further gift of 15 kg. Our current rice stock is about 20 kgs until the new rice arrives.

How did you buy directly from a farmer? Do you know them personally? Or, is there a source for that?

There is a rice field directly behind our second house in Shiga pref, as well as many farms nearby. But, I don't know to get in touch directly with the farmers themselves.

Yeah, when I lived in rural Akita I never paid for rice. I lived in the edge of a bunch of rice fields, and I used to get blind drunk with some of the neighboring farmers.

They hooked it right up.

If it is indeed 83 yen for 5kg of 2021 rice, then, yeah, the reason for the price ballooning to 2000 for 5kg needs to be explained.

One wonders, exactly how much of these 4year old 'chicken feed' rice stocks will end up in restaurants?!

Just another form of inflation or tax, as consumers will pay more at restaurants for lower quality rice...depressing

garypen

I paid ¥8500 ($66). ($1.88/kg) for a 30kg bag of brown rice from a farmer. I was gifted 15 kg, and again this week I received a further gift of 15 kg. Our current rice stock is about 20 kgs until the new rice arrives.

How did you buy directly from a farmer? Do you know them personally? Or, is there a source for that?

I was introduced. You could ask a farmer in your area. Many people in my area are buying from farmers.

"It's 83 yen per 5 kilograms. That costs more than 2,000 yen," the 65-year-old House of Representatives lawmaker said. "Chickens are the ones mostly eating that really old rice. Honorable humans don't."

It might not be "honorable" but at 83 yen per kilo, and 50g of rice per meal, that works out to just under 1 yen per meal? Sign me up! I'm sure I can do something to the rice to make it more palatable.

83 yen per 5 kilograms!? This is not a typo??

Please, there has to be alternatives to rice?

A lot of insensitive politicians in Japan.

Nothing wrong with aged rice.

the reserve rice is of course meant for human consumption, during times of food shortages

It's good rice.

If there are no shortages of new rice then no need to distribute it.

But they have to dispose of it of course to store new rice coming in.

The guy isn’t being insensitive, he’s calling things as they are. It’s the opposition’s job to point out the failures of the government, and to be criticised for doing so speaks to a very immature and insecure political system. And make no mistake about it, the rice policy is a huge failure, which it would be galling to see Koizumi praised for magically rectifying ahead of the election.

Farmers are NOT allowed to sell their rice on their own, they must surrender it to JA.

You should back up a statement like this with some fact supporting links. Seems like there are at least a few folks here who have done otherwise.

Jind

Today 12:17 pm JST

A lot of insensitive politicians in Japan.

> Nothing wrong with aged rice.

Insensitive, malicious, and dumb in the first place. Used as chicken feed does not mean it's bad rice.

Mud slinging is common for politicians but usually against other politicians, not rice.

Hope it backfires but let's see

WoodyLee

Farmers are NOT allowed to sell their rice on their own, they must surrender it to JA.

I bought rice directly from a farmer who still made a profit on the sale. We have rice milling kiosks where you take your brown rice and mill it into white rice at 30% 50% 70% and 100% and a special setting for sushi rice for a mere couple of hundred yen. We mostly eat brown rice but when we do that we will make a couple of kilos of white rice, unbleached.

Many people in my location bring their 30 kg bags they bought from local farmers to make white rice for their families.

Farmers are NOT allowed to sell their rice on their own, they must surrender it to JA.

BS

There was a segment on a Japanese weekday tv program this week that had a group of normal consumers do a comparative taste test on four different ages of rice, the newest to 3-year old. Regret that I don't remember which program, there were something like 15-20 people who participated. The majority of the taste testers thought that the newest rice was the best, but one woman preferred the oldest, while the other two years also got some votes. It told me that different people have different senses of taste, even for rice.

One other segment that I saw on a few Japanese daytime wide shows was how to prepare the older rice so that it tastes as good as possible. I didn't spend time watching the whole things, but they had rice experts offering recommendations on how to prepare the older rice so it tastes as close to new rice as possible.

There are non-JA rice “collectors.” They’ve been buying from farmers at a premium above JA price, then holding the rice to drive up the price.

That’s why distribution is far less than harvest.

Capitalism is creating scarcity to drive profits.

The only reason rice is popular in Japan (and conversely unpopular in some other countries) is because of cultural differences. The fact is, you can live a happy and healthy life without eating a grain of rice. And you can do it in Japan. Logically speaking, only cultural inertia can explain why someone would be willing to fork over an unreasonable amount of money for rice. This crisis and the heat it has generated is purely based on traditional practice and force of habit.

People eating chicken are thus consuming this 'chicken feed' rice indirectly. Happy to report that fresh chicken bought at the grocery, still tastes fine in Japan!

Recommend people alternate between seafood and chicken for animal-based protein in daily life, as it seems to be part of the playbook for longevity, by avoiding pork and beef except on special occasion.

Japan imports corn from the US for animal feed.

According to Ministry of Finance data, Japan imported 14.9 million tons of corn in 2023, primarily for use as animal feed. The largest supplier was the United States, accounting for 6.7 million tons (or 45.8% of all imports), followed by Brazil at 6.6 million tons (44.7%) and Argentina at 0.8 million tons (5.1%).

Apparently referring to reserve rice from 2021 that the government released to the public in a bid to curb soaring prices of the staple food nationwide, Haraguchi said, "Is that something that we should buy gratefully?"

"It's 83 yen per 5 kilograms. That costs more than 2,000 yen," the 65-year-old House of Representatives lawmaker said. "Chickens are the ones mostly eating that really old rice. Honorable humans don't."

Today I held my first BBQ, my farming neighbours were adamant, the “cheap” rice, purchased at the taxpayers’ expense, is stockpiled for "animal feed", or to be distributed in a national emergency.

Then I contend for short term political expediency, sold back to the taxpayer.

Blooming outrageous.

How housewife favourite, the sometimes creosoted Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Shinjiro Koizumi is able to maintain a straight face is remarkable, astonishing.

Look, one of my favourite rice alternatives, I cooked today.

Jacket Potato with Spicy Miso Pork

https://www.hirokoliston.com/jacket-potato-with-spicy-miso-pork/    

Also, veggie option.   

Jacket Potatoes with Miso Butter and Kimchi

https://hipfoodiemom.com/2024/02/13/jacket-potatoes-with-miso-butter-and-kimchi/

I grow mine but I see 4 large potatos, suitable for baking 120 yen

Properly stored, rice keeps for 30 years. There seems to be a worldwide glut of rude, know-nothing lawmakers however.

Japan’s political coop is clucking with drama again with Tamaki ruffling feathers while the public is pecking around for affordable animal feed.