Miyata, chairman of Fukui Prefecture’s JA (Japan Agricultural Cooperatives) group, has called on the national government to buy back government stockpiled rice and reconsider production controls in response to falling provisional rice prices. On 5ch, opinions split between letting market forces decide and using tax money to support farmers, with criticism of JA’s distribution system and even extreme calls to abandon domestic farming altogether in favor of imports.
Koichi Miyata, Chairman of Fukui JA
“The cost benchmark (¥20,535 per 60kg) needs to become the standard. The government needs to implement policies that guide prices toward that level.”
Following a sharp drop in provisional rice prices, Chairman Miyata of the prefectural JA group stressed the need for the government to buy back stockpiled rice and review production controls in order to resolve the rice glut.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Read the original article
Is it true that the rice sitting in surplus right now is the stuff they were hoarding last year?
>>10
Reiwa 7 (2025 harvest) rice coming out now is normal timing, but the Reiwa 6 (2024) and Reiwa 5 (2023) harvest rice is the stuff from when everyone was screaming "we're short, we're short!"
So basically, any rice on store shelves right now that isn't from the Reiwa 7 harvest is that stuff.
Reiwa 7 (2025 harvest) rice coming out now is normal timing, but the Reiwa 6 (2024) and Reiwa 5 (2023) harvest rice is the stuff from when everyone was screaming "we're short, we're short!"
So basically, any rice on store shelves right now that isn't from the Reiwa 7 harvest is that stuff.
The public wants to buy rice cheap.
Farmers want to sell rice high.
So why doesn't the government just subsidize rice farmers with tax money? There's no need to sell rice at high prices.
If you leave it to the market, farmers will disappear.
Farmers want to sell rice high.
So why doesn't the government just subsidize rice farmers with tax money? There's no need to sell rice at high prices.
If you leave it to the market, farmers will disappear.
>>19
This would be fine.
There are some things you shouldn't leave entirely to market forces.
This should take priority over those excessive gasoline subsidies.
This would be fine.
There are some things you shouldn't leave entirely to market forces.
This should take priority over those excessive gasoline subsidies.
>>19
Look at the world's major agricultural powers.
Small and mid-sized farms died out there long ago — it's all large-scale operations now.
Japan, meanwhile, is nothing but tiny farms, all thanks to generous government policy.
Look at the world's major agricultural powers.
Small and mid-sized farms died out there long ago — it's all large-scale operations now.
Japan, meanwhile, is nothing but tiny farms, all thanks to generous government policy.
Our food self-sufficiency rate is already low — if we stop growing rice too, Japan is finished.
Maybe that was the whole point of driving up rice prices last year.
It's still suspicious that nobody's given a clear reason why rice prices spiked so much last year.
Maybe that was the whole point of driving up rice prices last year.
It's still suspicious that nobody's given a clear reason why rice prices spiked so much last year.
>>26
Just grow other crops that actually make money lol
There's no reason to be stuck on rice lol
Just grow other crops that actually make money lol
There's no reason to be stuck on rice lol
Jacking up the price is pointless if there's nobody left to buy it, you know?
There's plenty of good bread and noodles out there now, so consumers have gotten used to alternatives.
All that price-gouging pushed people who used to eat rice three meals a day down to just one or two.
At this point, unless someone actually gets made an example of, consumers aren't going to look twice at rice again.
There's plenty of good bread and noodles out there now, so consumers have gotten used to alternatives.
All that price-gouging pushed people who used to eat rice three meals a day down to just one or two.
At this point, unless someone actually gets made an example of, consumers aren't going to look twice at rice again.
Why doesn't JA just set up a system to sell the rice it buys directly?
The price goes up while it's being passed from one middleman to another, right?
If I could buy 6kg for ¥2,050, I'd buy it without a second thought.
The price goes up while it's being passed from one middleman to another, right?
If I could buy 6kg for ¥2,050, I'd buy it without a second thought.
>>63
JA just buys up the big sacks of unmilled rice straight from farmers in bulk and passes them along — that's it.
They don't mill it, they don't weigh and bag it by the kilo, and they won't do individual shipping.
If you told JA to actually do all that, it'd cost just as much in labor and materials.
The only way it'd actually work is if you brought your own sacks, paid for your own transport, drove up to the farm yourself, and bought the unmilled rice directly.
JA just buys up the big sacks of unmilled rice straight from farmers in bulk and passes them along — that's it.
They don't mill it, they don't weigh and bag it by the kilo, and they won't do individual shipping.
If you told JA to actually do all that, it'd cost just as much in labor and materials.
The only way it'd actually work is if you brought your own sacks, paid for your own transport, drove up to the farm yourself, and bought the unmilled rice directly.
Couldn't JA just cover the shortfall itself?
>>66
Exactly.
That's supposed to be JA's job in the first place.
Instead of looking out for consumers, they're right there jacking up prices along with everyone else.
Exactly.
That's supposed to be JA's job in the first place.
Instead of looking out for consumers, they're right there jacking up prices along with everyone else.
I switched to rotating staples instead of just rice, and honestly each one tastes better that way — I don't think I'll ever go back to rice-centered meals…
>>77
Japanese rice isn't even that delicious to begin with.
You need a dedicated rice cooker for it.
Eating it spikes your blood sugar like crazy.
It kind of felt like waking up — I lost my attachment to rice.
Japanese rice isn't even that delicious to begin with.
You need a dedicated rice cooker for it.
Eating it spikes your blood sugar like crazy.
It kind of felt like waking up — I lost my attachment to rice.
When rice prices spiked last year, the media made a huge fuss about rice vanishing from store shelves and where it all went, spouting nonsense like "foreign tourists are buying it all."
So in the end, was JA just sitting on a warehouse full of last year's rice the whole time?
Not shipping it out when it was scarce, then having a mountain of old rice right before the new harvest season — that's just idiotic.
So in the end, was JA just sitting on a warehouse full of last year's rice the whole time?
Not shipping it out when it was scarce, then having a mountain of old rice right before the new harvest season — that's just idiotic.
>>89
JA plus the wholesalers, basically.
JA plus the wholesalers, basically.
Aichi
New-harvest Akitakomachi (rice variety), ¥1,780
New-harvest Akitakomachi (rice variety), ¥1,780
Just let domestic agriculture go extinct at this point.
Fully switch over to imported crops.
There's no need to force yourself to eat domestic produce.
Imports get you the same stuff cheaper anyway.
Fully switch over to imported crops.
There's no need to force yourself to eat domestic produce.
Imports get you the same stuff cheaper anyway.
>>108
This.
We don't need to grow domestic rice or vegetables anymore.
Just switch entirely to imports.
Most Japanese people feel this way.
This.
We don't need to grow domestic rice or vegetables anymore.
Just switch entirely to imports.
Most Japanese people feel this way.
>>108
Seriously.
No Japanese person would be inconvenienced if domestic farmers disappeared entirely.
If anything, they're a nuisance.
Seriously.
No Japanese person would be inconvenienced if domestic farmers disappeared entirely.
If anything, they're a nuisance.
>>108
Unless you've got overwhelming military or economic power, other countries will see you as an easy mark and force you to pay through the nose for produce.
Or you end up sending people abroad as immigrants just to have fewer mouths to feed.
Unless you've got overwhelming military or economic power, other countries will see you as an easy mark and force you to pay through the nose for produce.
Or you end up sending people abroad as immigrants just to have fewer mouths to feed.
Japan Meat (supermarket chain)
Last year's Fukui Koshihikari (rice variety) being dumped at ¥1,999
Last year's Fukui Koshihikari (rice variety) being dumped at ¥1,999
>>113
That's still pricey.
Knock it down another half off, bam!
That's still pricey.
Knock it down another half off, bam!
>>113
No purchase limit and Koshihikari at this price — that's pretty cheap.
No purchase limit and Koshihikari at this price — that's pretty cheap.
>>113
Limit's 2 per person, but you can buy it every day, so.
Limit's 2 per person, but you can buy it every day, so.
>>1
Wait, was Agriculture Minister Suzuki actually competent?
Wait, was Agriculture Minister Suzuki actually competent?
If foreign rice were expensive and bad-tasting anyway, we wouldn't even need tariffs, right?
So let's just abolish the tariffs then.
So let's just abolish the tariffs then.
>>146
Word's already out that long-grain rice is tasty.
You can cook it easily in a frying pan or microwave — so convenient…
Short-grain rice is a hassle.
Word's already out that long-grain rice is tasty.
You can cook it easily in a frying pan or microwave — so convenient…
Short-grain rice is a hassle.
>>97
That's only because domestic rice still exists as competition.
If imports were priced the same as domestic, people would just buy domestic, so importers have no choice but to sell cheap.
But once everything's imported, there's no reason left to sell cheap.
Importers would be free to charge whatever they want.
That's only because domestic rice still exists as competition.
If imports were priced the same as domestic, people would just buy domestic, so importers have no choice but to sell cheap.
But once everything's imported, there's no reason left to sell cheap.
Importers would be free to charge whatever they want.
>>150
You'd just import cheaply from a different country instead, idiot.
You'd just import cheaply from a different country instead, idiot.
So does that mean we'll be able to buy 5kg for under ¥2,000?
>>151
No, that's the price the government pays to buy stockpile rice.
No, that's the price the government pays to buy stockpile rice.
>>116
Yeah, rice really was half the price back in 2021.
Yeah, rice really was half the price back in 2021.
>>158
This is scary cheap in its own way, honestly.
This is scary cheap in its own way, honestly.
>>119
Wheat production is even smaller than rice's, you know.
Can you not even grasp the obvious fact that if everyone switches to eating bread, the price will just go up too?
Wheat production is even smaller than rice's, you know.
Can you not even grasp the obvious fact that if everyone switches to eating bread, the price will just go up too?
The Dojima Rice Exchange was Ishin's Yoshimura's pet project, after all.
※This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Breaking News+) thread「Fukui JA Chairman: “The government needs to guide prices to ¥20,535 per 60kg” — Review also aims to prevent oversupply and resolve the rice glut」.
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