Japan is facing a significant rice shortage, impacting daily life and culture, as rice is deeply intertwined with meals, traditions, and rituals. Prices have more than doubled over the past year, prompting changes in grocery shopping and restaurant practices, including limits on rice purchases. While imports are rising, evidenced by an upcoming shipment from South Korea, these measures could jeopardize local farmers. A poor harvest in the fall of 2023, caused by extreme heat, has exacerbated the crisis, as Japan's consumption sits at roughly 7.8 million tons annually.
"It's expensive," Kaori Wataya, a 45-year-old mother of three who cooks rice for two meals a day, said outside a supermarket in western Tokyo. "But what else can we do? ... I'm trying my best to buy."
Rice imports, which could leave Japanese farmers vulnerable to competition, are quickly rising. In February, the volume of rice imported by private companies exceeded 551 tons - surpassing the total import volume in the 2023 fiscal year.
These exports are a sliver of the overall rice consumption in Japan, which the Ministry of Agriculture places at 7.8 million tons between July 2023 and June 2024. But they underscore the countryâs rice crisis, which began in summer last year after a heat wave in 2023 led to a smaller and poorer-quality harvest.
The shortage is affecting daily life in Japan, where rice's myriad uses include sushi and alcohol as well as ancestral ceremonies.
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