Released Then, Bought Back Now: Japan Faces Rice Glut After Crisis

Last year, Japan experienced a "rice crisis" as a shortage of rice caused prices to skyrocket.

At some supermarkets, the price of a 5-kilogram bag of rice approached 5,000 yen, or about 50,000 won in Korean currency.

At the time, the Japanese government took the unusual step of releasing hundreds of thousands of tons of government-held rice reserves to stabilize prices.

One year later, the exact opposite situation is unfolding in Japan.

This year's new rice, which has started appearing in supermarkets, is priced at 2,430 yen per 5 kilograms.

That is half the price compared to the peak last year.

[Consumer: It makes no sense. This price for 5kg? I really cannot believe it. If the rice is delicious, you do not even need that many side dishes.]

However, it is a headache for retailers.

[Supermarket Store Manager: Rice produced last year feels relatively expensive, so it does not sell well and ends up remaining as inventory.]

Comparing last year's rice and the new rice of the same brand shows a price difference of nearly 10,000 won in Korean currency.

The reason new rice is so cheap this year is due to an oversupply of rice last year.

As the Japanese government massively released stockpiled reserves last year, this year's new rice harvest began before all of last year's crop could be consumed.

As a result, Japan is now facing its largest oversupply of rice on record.

Private rice inventories stand at 2.43 million tons, leaving a surplus of over 400,000 tons above the appropriate level.

There are even forecasts that stockpiles could increase to up to 2.8 million tons next year.

The Japanese government ultimately announced that it will buy back the surplus rice from last year as government reserves.

It plans to repurchase 210,000 tons, which is one-third of the 590,000 tons of reserve rice released last year.

However, critics point out that this will be insufficient to prevent falling prices.

[Omaeda / NLI Research Institute: If the repurchase scale is around 210,000 tons, the downward trend in rice prices is expected to continue.]

The Japanese government is now facing inevitable criticism that its failure to accurately forecast last year's rice production has resulted in wasted budgets and a heavier burden on farmers.

(Video by Han Chul-min, Moon Hyun-jin)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.