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The story
On the 16th, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries announced that the average wholesale price for new-crop rice across all brands in September came to 21,293 yen per 60kg of unmilled rice (genmai), down 42% from the same month last year. The decline is attributed to inventories ballooning as production outpaced demand since last year, along with harvest delays caused by prolonged rain. On the thread, many welcomed the price drops at supermarkets, while others questioned why there’s a surplus when there was a rice shortage just last year, alongside sympathy — and some backlash — toward farmers struggling with falling prices, and disagreement over what caused last year’s price spike in the first place.
New-Crop Rice Wholesale Price Drops 42% — September Average, Amid Oversupply | NEWSjp – Kyodo News
Published 2026/10/16 17:06:53
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries announced on the 16th that the wholesale price of rice harvested this year, averaged across all brands in September, came to 21,293 yen per 60kg of unmilled rice (genmai). That’s a 42% drop from the same month a year earlier. The effect reflects rice production outpacing demand since last year, swelling inventories. Retail prices at supermarkets and other stores may continue to fall. Harvest delays caused by extended rain are also believed to be a factor, and trading contract volumes were sluggish.
Source: news.jp / Original article here
What people said
This is exactly how it should be.
We'll be eating well for a while.
We can hold out for 10 years with this.
Someone said the going rate for one "俵" (a 60kg rice bale) in the US is about 3,000 yen.
If that's right, that's 1/10th of what it cost in Japan last year.
I'm kind of skeptical though.
Wasn't there a rice shortage?
They said there wasn't even any stock back then, right?
Re: #102
There wasn't any at the time, but lately it's been popping up out of nowhere, like from another dimension.
That's the price it should be.
The supermarkets around me are still ripping people off.
Doesn't matter either way, since Japan can't be food self-sufficient regardless.
As long as they keep chanting "we'll quit," they've still got room to spare.
Let it drop further.
How were they even making a living all those years before?
Last year they suddenly started claiming farmers earn 10 yen an hour.
No way someone on 10 yen an hour could live in a house that huge.
And how are they even paying their taxes?
The real anomaly is that after 30 years, the price crashed all the way down to 14,000 yen per bale.
Rather than arguing over the price itself, the right move is to let staple-food variety and market forces run their course.
The current situation seems to be driven by this foolish self-sufficiency-rate ideology claiming rice doesn't deserve a place in a free market…
A grudge over food is a terrifying thing.
The domestic rice industry will never be forgiven.
Bought one, and new rice really is delicious 😋
The grains were nice and even, not chalky white.
These days, even grade-2 rice shipped from country grain elevators — including "dead" grains (死に米, damaged/discolored kernels) — can be sorted out with visible-light and UV sorting machines and upgraded to premium grade.
I think it was developed by Yamagata's Industrial Technology Center, if I recall.
Discolored or chalky-white grains get sold off to rice-cracker makers.
The only rice left on the market with lots of dead grains mixed in is the blended stuff.
Naturally consumers saw through this and fought back with a boycott.
But JA hasn't shown an ounce of remorse, and they're monstrously pinning the blame on Shinjiro Koizumi's release of the reserve rice stockpile instead.
With the root of all this evil, JA, acting like that, people turning away from rice is going to keep going for a long time — suffer.
Letting JA control pricing just drives prices up, so I think we need a proper rice futures exchange.
Good catch. Even with the reserve rice release and increased imports, prices still roughly doubled.
That's your answer right there.
Guess the government will just have to force-feed it to everyone lol.
Honestly, maybe we just don't need to eat rice anymore.
Even if it gets cheaper than wheat, I still don't want it.
In my area I'm making do with new-crop Chiba Koshihikari at 1,900 yen for 5kg, or Fusakogane at 1,800 yen.
That's pretty cheap for your area. I shop around for deals too, but new-crop Chiba-grown Fusaotome runs 1,950 yen/5kg (tax excluded) here in eastern Tokyo.
Can't really say it tastes great — better than Gohyakugawa (new-crop), at least.
Prices haven't been dropping around here lately. Hoping for something good in tomorrow's flyer.
Re: #107
Are you rinsing it too much? Over-rinsing it kills the flavor.
How were they living back then, lol?
They were in debt.
Well, fertilizer and other costs have gone up, so things have probably gotten harder for them.
But that's true for everyone — the whole country is struggling with inflation.
It was supposedly a brand-name rice too.
Guess you get what you pay for.
A grudge over food is a terrifying thing.
People are going to bring this up for the rest of their lives.
Though I do feel for the rice farmers who got caught in the crossfire.
Feel for them?
They're all in this together — shared responsibility.
However you slice it, this crash is just the fallout from that nonsensical spike.
Early on, the story was that some restaurant chain bought up huge quantities anticipating a shortage, which sent prices soaring.
I don't get why that company's name never comes up.
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
The agriculture ministry’s wholesale price survey is published monthly and serves as a benchmark for real market conditions. Last year saw a record rice shortage and a sharp price spike, which prompted government measures such as releasing reserve stockpiles. This latest 42% drop is seen as the correction from that spike, with the main cause being production outpacing demand and inventories piling up. Opinions in the thread were split: consumers largely welcomed the lower prices, with some framing it as simply a return to the level of a few years back, while others voiced concern over the worsening finances of farmers. There was also discussion of why last year’s spike happened in the first place, including a theory that the restaurant industry bought up large quantities — but the article offers no definitive explanation, and no consensus emerged in the thread either. Retail prices vary significantly by brand and region, and there’s typically a lag before wholesale price drops are reflected at the register — a point readers may easily misread.
*This article is compiled and summarized from the 5ch (News Express+) thread “[Rice] New-Crop Wholesale Price Drops 42% — September Average, Oversupply.”
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