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The story
Comedian Kazu Laser commented on falling rice prices during the September 28 broadcast of “DayDay.” According to data released by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on the 25th, the average price of 5kg of rice sold at roughly 1,000 stores nationwide during the week of September 14–20 was 2,934 yen, down 37 yen from the previous week. Touching on concerns about farmers quitting the business, Kazu Laser said, “I hope the culture of eating rice grows a bit more.” A 5channel thread reacting to the topic saw opinions split over what’s behind the price drop and what originally caused Japan’s move away from rice in the first place.
Kazu Laser on falling rice prices, concerns about farmers quitting: “I hope the culture of eating rice grows a bit more”
Kazu Laser (41), of the comedy duo “Maple Chogokin,” appeared on Nippon TV’s “DayDay.” (weekdays 9:00 AM) on the 28th and commented on the drop in rice prices.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries announced on the 25th that the average price of 5kg of rice sold at roughly 1,000 supermarkets nationwide from September 14–20 was 2,934 yen, down 37 yen from the previous week.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
Average storefront price trend for rice (5kg)
https://price-transition.mdingon.com/
Dojima rice futures chart
https://www.odex.co.jp/ex_contents/market/chart_51.html
The terrifying power of a grudge over food is common knowledge across every era and culture.
It's because you lack common knowledge that you get swept up by rumors in the first place.
Production just keeps shrinking.
Japan's staple food is wheat now.
Rice consumption has been declining for ages, but flour consumption has been flat for about 50 years.
Always so quick to blame someone else.
Last year and the year before, Japanese rice was actually cheaper to buy overseas.
Even in countries where prices are higher than Japan's across the board, you could get Japanese rice for less than you could in Japan itself.
I get it. Once prices went up, the price gap between brands weirdly shrank, so I tried a bunch and eventually settled on one particular brand.
Tried a bunch of varieties and ended up right back on Hitomebore.
Guess your taste never really changes.
So you fell in love at first sight with Hitomebore, huh (the name literally means "love at first sight"). That's true love.
Though there was a time I cheated on it without a second thought.
Just because he's a comedian doesn't mean he should get away with spouting nonsense like this — don't let idiots run their mouths.
What's "surplus" is old rice that's been hidden away in warehouses.
And yet the Ministry of Agriculture was saying distribution stockpiles had basically bottomed out too.
If a ramen shop goes under from lack of customers, nobody feels sorry for it, right? And the government doesn't hand out subsidies for it either.
It's the same with rice farmers.
JA won't go under until the rice farmers go under first.
So hurry up and close shop already, rice farmers.
We've proven we can live without rice, so there's no demand for you either.
Stop burning taxpayer money on a business that doesn't turn a profit.
Rice isn't the only crop that exists, you know. Shockingly dumb take.
So rice farmers don't need to worry about any of this — feel free to go out of business in peace.
This guy's a piece of work.
He's the one who hated the acreage-reduction policy so much that he was literally calling for rice futures prices to be driven up just to get the policy scrapped.
Search around using that link and it comes right up, lol.
You can't trust a word this guy says.
Personally, I just hope rice and wheat supplies stay stable if it ever comes to war with Communist China, but if there's a naval blockade, a starve-them-out siege would be unavoidable.
If wheat imports from overseas ever stopped, it'd be sheer panic.
Pasta or udon will do just fine, I reckon. (said in a mock old-fashioned, samurai-ish tone)
Well, unless you've got growing kids in the house, stew with two slices of bread makes for a perfectly satisfying meal on its own.
Even without cutting rice out entirely — say, udon with a couple of inarizushi on the side — I still think it'd be rough if per-person rice consumption dropped to something like 40kg a year.
Cheap pasta especially has a lot, and it's not easy to digest.
I've heard bodybuilders eat pasta. Does the average person really need to do that though?
https://www.hakubaku.co.jp/omugi-lab/library/metabolic_improvement/
It's genuinely good for you too. People say prison barley rice smells because it's made with old rice, but the rice regular households eat doesn't smell like that at all.
Maybe it just suits the Japanese constitution well.
If rice gets expensive, people will just eat something else.
That's really all there is to it.
It's low in salt and fat too, so it's actually pretty healthy.
Background and Key Points of This Discussion
It’s worth noting that the Ministry of Agriculture’s figures come from a survey of storefront prices at roughly 1,000 stores nationwide — a weekly average price — which is a separate metric from actual trends in rice production. In the thread, while some welcomed the price drop, others pointed out that the “rice exodus” that took hold during last year’s price spike may still be ongoing, and that acreage-reduction-style policies — which still pay subsidies for converting paddies into regular farmland — remain in effect, meaning the production base itself continues to shrink. That paints a picture where a simple price drop can’t automatically be read as a recovery in demand. Many posts also voiced distrust over how prices were set during the price hikes and how distribution stockpiles were explained, suggesting the real dividing line in opinion was less about price itself and more about differing levels of trust in agricultural policy and JA, the farmers’ co-op.
*This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary of the 5channel (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “[Entertainment] Kazu Laser on falling rice prices, concerns about farmers quitting: “I hope the culture of eating rice grows a bit more”.”
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