Japan Private-Sector Rice Imports Surging
Tokyo, July 28 (Jiji Press)--Private-sector rice imports to Japan are soaring as domestic rice prices remain high, apparently for use in "bento" boxed meals and household consumption.
According to trade statistics released by the Finance Ministry on Friday, 10,607 tons of rice was imported by private-sector companies in May, about 125 times the monthly average for last year.
"If we leave the surging rice prices as they are, (rice imports) may grow further," agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi said Friday.
The government imports an annual 770,000 tons of rice free of tariffs under its minimum market access obligation agreed with trading partners.
Meanwhile, private companies can import rice if they pay a tariff of 341 yen per kilogram.
(2025/06/28-19:48)
To read a full story, please click here to find out how to subscribe.
NATIONAL
-
07/01 22:22 Average Temperature in Japan in June Highest Ever -
07/01 22:01 (Update 3) Law Firm Employee Fatally Stabbed in Ikebukuro Office - 07/01 21:15 Japan Ruling, Opposition Parties Split over Inflation Relief
- 07/01 20:24 Ishiba Vows to Cooperate with Congo on Mineral Supply Chains
- 07/01 20:08 (Update 2) Law Firm Employee Fatally Stabbed in Ikebukuro Office
- 07/01 19:41 Japan Adopts Plan to Cut Nankai Quake Deaths by 80 Pct
- 07/01 19:12 ASDF's Blue Impulse to Perform for Osaka Expo July 12-13
- 07/01 18:56 Senior Member of "Luffy" Crime Ring Pleads Guilty at Hearing
- 07/01 18:46 Noto Quake-Hit Area Suffers Biggest Roadside Land Price Drop
- 07/01 18:35 (Update) Law Firm Employee Fatally Stabbed in Ikebukuro Office
- 07/01 18:05 Japan, Vatican to Strengthen Cooperation
- 07/01 17:27 Number of Hibakusha Drops Below 100,000
- 07/01 17:10 Ishiba Vows to Strengthen Japan's Cybersecurity Capabilities
- 07/01 16:57 Ishiba Pushes for Policy Shift to Increase Rice Production
- 07/01 15:46 Japan Tax Revenues to Hit Record 75 T. Yen in FY 2024
- 07/01 14:24 Man Dead after Being Stabbed at Tokyo Building Complex
- 07/01 14:10 Japan Roadside Land Prices Up for 4th Year in Row
- 07/01 12:44 (Update) Trump Complains about Japan's Rice Policy
- 07/01 12:23 G-7 Foreign Ministers Urge Iran Not to Restart Uranium Enrichment
- 07/01 09:39 Trump Complains about Japan's Rice Policy
- 07/01 09:09 Japan Big Makers' Sentiment Improves: BOJ Tankan
- 06/30 22:34 Japan, U.S. Show No Signs of Reaching Trade Deal
- 06/30 22:02 Japan Retail Rice Prices Fall for 5th Straight Week
- 06/30 21:48 Nippon Ishin Vows to Boost Take-Home Pay
- 06/30 20:35 Japan to Study Ways to Expand Use of Disaster Food Trucks
- 06/30 20:32 2025 Polls: Komeito Aims to Keep 14 Upper House Seats
- 06/30 19:51 Japanese Governors Earned Average of 24.13 M. Yen in 2024
- 06/30 19:03 Chinese Victims of Hanaoka Incident in Japan Mourned 80 Years On
- 06/30 17:35 Niigata Holds 1st Public Hearing on N-Reactor Restart Plan
- 06/30 17:35 Mt. Fuji to Kick Off Climbing Season with New Rules
- 06/30 16:48 Japan Hails China's Partial Resumption of Fishery Imports
- 06/30 16:33 Japan Needs to Bolster Defense Capabilities Steadily: Ishiba
- 06/30 16:16 Japan Panel Seeks to Indict Hagiuda Secretary over LDP Scandal
- 06/30 15:43 LDP Exec Inspects Japan-China Median Line in East China Sea
- 06/30 15:18 Japan's Industrial Output Rises 0.5 Pct in May
- 06/30 13:34 Ishiba Tops 2024 Income Rankings for Japan Party Leaders
- 06/30 13:28 Japan Lawmakers' Average Income Flat at 25.13 M. Yen
- 06/30 10:59 Japan to See Markups for 2,105 Food Items in July
- 06/30 10:23 (Update) Auto Trade with Japan "Not Fair": Trump
- 06/30 09:20 Auto Trade with Japan "Not Fair": Trump
- 06/30 00:19 China OKs Imports of Japanese Fishery Products
- 06/29 19:14 (Update) Ishiba Cautious about Expanding Ruling Coalition
- 06/29 18:46 G-7 Agrees to Exclude U.S. from Global Minimum Tax
- 06/29 18:13 Osaka Expo Visitors Top 10 M.
- 06/29 17:44 2025 POLLS: Conservative Party Targets Policy on Foreigners
- 06/29 16:44 Japan's Ishiba Cautious about Expanding Ruling Coalition
- 06/29 16:07 (Update 2) Japan Successfully Launches Final H-2A Rocket
- 06/29 12:35 Memorial Held for 2020 Rain Disaster in Japan's Kumamoto
- 06/29 11:52 Japan's Akazawa Holds Phone Talks with U.S. Commerce Sec.
- 06/29 11:15 (Update) Japan Successfully Launches Final H-2A Rocket
- 06/29 10:25 2025 POLLS: JCP Pulls Candidates in Fukushima, Kagoshima
- 06/29 09:40 Japan Successfully Launches Final H-2A Rocket
- 06/28 22:23 Japan LDP Holds Key Meeting Ahead of Upper House Election
- 06/28 21:23 Japan Eyes Body for Local Govt Disaster Waste Management
- 06/28 19:48 Japan Private-Sector Rice Imports Surging
- 06/28 18:40 ICC Pres. Akane Criticizes U.S. Sanctions
- 06/28 16:32 All 4 Pandas at Western Japan Zoo Leave for China
- 06/28 15:40 EU Proposes Eel Trade Restriction despite Japan's Opposition
- 06/28 14:28 Japan, U.S. to Continue Tariff Talks as July Deadline Nears
- 06/28 13:17 Japanese P-1 Patrol Aircraft Underused: Board of Audit
- 06/27 23:16 Japan Aims to Complete Yonaguni Evacuation Shelter in 2028
- 06/27 22:46 2025 POLLS: LDP to Mull Partial Alliance after Election
- 06/27 22:43 8 Japan Automakers' Global Sales Up 0.5 Pct in May
- 06/27 21:18 Japan Holds 1st Auction for Imported Tariff-Free Rice
- 06/27 20:35 16-18 Pct Chance of Mega Quake Predicted off Central Japan
- 06/27 20:21 (Update 2) Japan Top Court Finds Welfare Benefit Cuts Unlawful
- 06/27 19:33 Japan to Provide Defense Aid to 8 Countries in FY 2025
- 06/27 19:09 Japan Household Electricity Bills for July to Fall
- 06/27 18:59 Woman Convicted of Hammer Attack at Hosei Univ.
- 06/27 18:52 Fans Bid Farewell to 4 Pandas Right ahead of Return to China
- 06/27 18:08 3 Japanese Found Guilty over PFAS Pollution in Italy
- 06/27 17:50 Japan Parties Seek Measures against Election Disinformation
- 06/27 17:30 Japan End-March Household Financial Assets at 2,195 T. Yen
- 06/27 17:21 (Update) Japan Top Court Finds Welfare Benefit Cuts Unlawful
- 06/27 16:19 Japan Posts Record-Low Food Loss in FY 2023
- 06/27 16:07 Japan Top Court Finds Welfare Benefit Cuts Unlawful
- 06/27 14:58 Japan Executes Man for 2017 Serial Murders in Zama
- 06/27 14:14 Trump Tariffs Add to Global Uncertainties: Japan Trade Paper
- 06/27 13:42 Tokyo's Inflation Slows to 3.1 Pct in June
- 06/27 12:50 Ohtani Earns Most All-Star Votes in National League
- 06/27 12:03 Japan's Job Availability Ratio Dips to 1.24
- 06/27 10:31 Japan Calls for Abductees' Immediate Return at U.N. Symposium
- 06/27 09:34 Japanese Woman Rescued Alive on Peru's Highest Peak
- 06/27 08:15 Trading Firm Working to Preserve Kyoto's Traditional Crafts
- 06/26 23:44 Lawmaker Hashimoto Picked to Become 1st Female JOC Pres.
- 06/26 22:38 Komeito Vows to Support People with Tax Cuts, Benefits
- 06/26 21:36 Sense of Burden behind Calls to Scrap MOF: Govt Spokesman
- 06/26 21:13 Japan's Ishiba to Make 1st Election Speech in Hyogo
- 06/26 20:43 Nagasaki Voices Regret over Trump's Remark on Atomic Bombings
- 06/26 17:44 18 Pct in Japan Avoid News: Industry Survey
- 06/26 17:21 Japan Holds 1st Preparatory Panel Meeting on Sex Crime Check System
- 06/26 15:09 (Update) Japanese Climber Dies on Peru's Highest Peak
- 06/26 14:25 Japanese Climber Dies on Peru's Highest Peak
- 06/26 13:03 Angola Pavilion Reopens at Osaka Expo
- 06/26 11:57 NATO, Indo-Pacific Partners to Enhance Defense Industry Cooperation
- 06/26 10:40 Japanese Opposition Chief Causes Stir over Remarks on Female Voters
- 06/26 10:02 Work-Related Mental Illness Cases Hit Record in Japan
- 06/26 07:59 Voyage from Taiwan to Japan Isle 30,000 Yrs Ago Possible: Team
- 06/25 22:52 Japan Power Demand to Grow by Up to 40 Pct in 2050
- 06/25 22:47 U.S. Strikes on Iran Put Japan in Dilemma
- 06/25 21:03 G-7 Ministers Vow to Sustain Israel-Iran Ceasefire
- 06/25 19:51 Princess Kako Looks Back on Visit to Brazil
- 06/25 19:28 Opposition CDP's Head Rejects Grand Coalition with LDP
- 06/25 19:13 Japan Male Pop Group Tokio Disbands
- 06/25 19:04 NATO Not Discussing Tokyo Office Plan: Official
- 06/25 18:21 Japan Mobility Show to Highlight Future of Mobility in Autumn
- 06/25 18:13 Former Land Minister Nobuteru Ishihara Leaves Politics
- 06/25 18:10 NHK Suffers Loss for 2nd Straight Year
- 06/25 17:53 Japan Average Pump Price Rallies amid Middle East Tensions
- 06/25 17:27 TEPCO Changes Niigata N-Reactor Restart Plan
- 06/25 17:16 Japan Post Stripped of Truck Transport Biz License
- 06/25 17:07 Nepalese Man Posing as Ohtani Arrested over Fraud Charges
- 06/25 15:26 Opposition CDP to Field Renho in Upper House Poll
- 06/25 14:54 Japan Post Holdings Chief Apologizes for Improper Driver Checks
- 06/25 14:23 SBI to Fully Repay Public Funds Next Month
- 06/25 13:36 Fashion Show Featuring "Future Diapers" Held at Osaka Expo
- 06/25 13:27 (Update) Ohtani Slugs 300th Home Run in Combined Japan, U.S. Career
- 06/25 12:51 Japan May Achieve Inflation Target Sooner: BOJ Policymaker
- 06/25 12:24 Ohtani Slugs 300th Home Run in Combined Japan, U.S. Career
- 06/25 11:49 July Disaster Prediction Overshadows Demand for Travel to Japan
- 06/25 10:14 Japan to Set Up Body to Improve Anime Worker Conditions
- 06/25 09:00 Ruling Camp's Majority Focus of Japan Upper House Election
- 06/24 23:35 Japan's SBI Shinsei Bank to Repay All Remaining Public Funds
- 06/24 22:30 China Moving to Build New Structure in East China Sea
