Japan’s new Minister of Agriculture has pushed an aggressive plan to sell the country’s strategic reserves of rice at a huge discount. People are lining up – sometimes the night before – to score a bag. But will this do anything to drive the cost of rice down? Or is it just a publicity gimmick?
There’s old rice, there’s old old rice, then there’s old old OLD rice
Rice now costs over twice what it did a year ago in Japan. Last week, the average price for a 5kg bag rose to 4,285 yen ($29.70). A year ago, it was selling for around 2,100 yen ($14.50).
The proximal cause was last year’s bad crop due to an unexpectedly hot summer. Some experts, however, say the shortage is a failure of government policy. Japan suppresses table rice production by providing incentives to sell rice for feed. The country also lags in cultivating more heat-resistant crops. An aging farming population and a drop in arable land devoted to rice farming are also contributing factors.
While people in Japan are crying for relief, the government’s response to date has been tone-deaf. The former head of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Etō Taku, lost his job after bragging at a fundraiser that his supporters give him so much rice he never has to buy it.
Political darling Koizumi Shinjirō, son of popular former Prime Minister Koizumi Junichirō, took over as MAFF head from Etō. He immediately announced a new policy. Instead of selling the country’s strategic reserve rice to the highest bidder – which had done nothing to lower prices – MAFF would enter into no-bid contracts with retailers. This would fix the price of rice at 2,000 yen per bag.
The catch is that the rice being sold is from 2021. Koizumi, in his…unique speaking style, referred to this as 古古古米 (ko-ko-ko mai) – “old, old, old rice.”
The use of rice from four years ago sparked a national debate: Is rice that dates back to 2021 any good? TV programs across Japan have devoted segments to taste-testing the old rice and comparing it against last year’s fresh crop. (The general verdict: It’s a little tough but edible.)
Another politician lands in boiling rice water
Some criticized Koizumi for his fast action. Nomura Tetsurō, a former MAFF Minister, lit into the young politician for failing to consult the party’s agricultural committee before executing his plan.
The “old, old, old rice” also got another politician in trouble. Democratic Party For The People leader Tamaki Yūichirō had to apologize after saying that the rice in the strategic reserves was rice marked to become animal feed within a year.
Tamaki initially defended the remark, noting that rice in the reserve after five years is, indeed, sent out for use as feed. However, he had to apologize for his “discomforting” remarks, which many saw as lacking consideration for a Japanese public beset on all sides by rising prices. The controversy has contributed to the DPFP’s decline in polls ahead of the pivotal July Upper House election.
1,200 people wait in line for rice – but will the market price move?
The Koizumi wave of strategic reserve rice sales began online last week and went into full swing yesterday nationwide. The response shows the lengths to which people will go to shave yen off of their grocery bills.
Online retailer Rakuten started sales of its supplies on Friday. The site immediately glitched out for many customers as people rushed in to reserve their bags. Consumers bought out the company’s available supply within hours.
A similar dynamic is playing out across Japan as people line up to buy bags. At the Aeon Style store in Shinagawa Seaside, Tokyo, Mainichi reported that 850 people lined up around the block starting in the early morning to get their Old Old Old Koizumi Rice. A report this morning on Asahi News revised that number to 1,200.
“I’m bringing it to my son’s family,” one woman said. “They have five people, including two boys who eat nonstop.”
But will this rice blitz do anything to lower the market price of Japan’s staple food? As of this writing, nothing has changed – a 5kg bag costs as much as it did last week. (A little more, actually: I just paid close to 5,000 yen after tax for our latest bag). It’s hard to see how what amounts to a one-time sale will affect the market price, as it does nothing to change either supply or demand.
As a writer for Nikkan Gendai notes, it’s apparent that Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru brought in the popular Koizumi to revive the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s flailing fortunes ahead of the Upper House Election. Tobias Harris of Observing Japan puts the cabinet’s average support across polls at an adjusted disapproval of 55.61% and an adjusted approval of 30.31%, or 25 points underwater. Gendai dismisses Koizumi’s grand gesture as a “last-ditch political sideshow,” comparing it to the “Abenomics” strategy of former Prime Minister Abe Shinzō.
Most experts don’t think the price of rice will recover until August, when the new crop comes in. It’s currently June. That’s a long time to stretch a single 5kg bag of rice.
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Sources
【古古古米】備蓄米めぐる小泉劇場…本当に困ってる人に届く？有事への備え大丈夫？｜アベプラ. Abema PRIME
Editorial: Japan’s rice shortage a failure of gov’t policy past and present. Mainichi Shimbun
22年産“古古米”ネット予約…すぐ売り切れ、21年産“古古古米”山形アナが試食、見えてきた日本人のお米に対する価値観【Nスタ解説】. TBS Newsdig
スーパーのコメ平均価格 5キロ 4285円 2週連続 過去最高更新. NHK News
国民・玉木氏「本当に深く反省」 備蓄米「エサ」発言で批判相次ぎ. Asahi Shimbun
コメ求め850人が列 東京でも備蓄米販売開始 午前4時から並ぶ人も. Mainichi Shimbun
小泉農水相、備蓄米「党のルール覚えて」苦言に反論「スピード感ある大胆な判断できない」. Sankei Shimbun
「備蓄米」放出はアベノマスクと同じ運命をたどる？ 発案者も政治手法も一緒の不気味. Nikkan Gendai
