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August 06, 2025
 

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AGRICULTURE

A rice farm in Niigata Prefecture. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said Tuesday that the government will reconsider its long-standing policy of limiting rice production — a measure that has been in place since around 1969 in response to chronic oversupply.
JAPAN
Aug 6, 2025
Ishiba to reverse rice curb policy as government admits to miscalculating demand
“We had assumed that production volume was adequate, despite the lack of sufficient analysis,” Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said.
Japan's exports of food and farm produce between January and June were the highest on record for 19 items, including green tea.
BUSINESS
Aug 4, 2025
Japan food exports expand 15.5% in January to June
Exports to the U.S. hit a record first-half high of ¥141.0 billion, up 22.0% and driven by robust demand for scallops, green tea and yellowtail.
Local varieties of rice are sold in a market in Marikina City, Manila, on Oct. 6, 2023.
BUSINESS
Aug 4, 2025
Top rice importer Philippines may halt purchases to help farmers
The plan comes at a time when improving global supply prospects for the grain have pushed benchmark Asian prices to an eight-year low.
Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi (center) talks with rice farmers in Suzuka, Mie Prefecture, on July 11.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Aug 4, 2025
Japan seeks to ditch rice output curbs after price surges
Currently, the government provides subsidies to farmers to encourage them to restrict rice production and switch to other crops to prevent an oversupply.
The agriculture ministry believes the increase in rice distributed through new channels with higher transaction prices is one of the factors behind the rice price surge since last summer.
BUSINESS
Jul 30, 2025
Varied sales channels may have triggered rice price surge
The amount of 2024 rice shipped from producers to major buyers dealing with farmers fell by 340,000 metric tons from the previous year.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi attends the launch of the Global Biofuels Alliance at the G20 summit in New Delhi in September 2023.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 29, 2025
Delayed pricing policy for cleaner ethanol keeps India burning food for fuel
The Indian government wants petrol sold in the country to contain 20% ethanol by October 2025, and has ramped up production by diverting food crops, but could use waste instead.
Wild goats photographed by a camera trap in November 2024 in the Takae district of the village of Higashi, Okinawa Prefecture
JAPAN / Regional Voices: Okinawa
Jul 28, 2025
Why authorities in Okinawa are trying to capture feral goats
The goats are causing damage to crops and there are concerns that they could negatively impact the forest ecosystems harboring rare animals and plants.
Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi visits a rice farm in Ibaraki Prefecture on July 9. Inflation is eating into household budgets, and higher prices are causing much concern among the Japanese public.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 18, 2025
In Japanese politics, rice is the 'third rail'
If inexperienced politicians inadvertently damage Japan’s food security, voters will send them packing.
Pasona Group has relocated some of its headquarters functions from Tokyo to Awaji Island, developing leisure, restaurant and other facilities there.
BUSINESS
Jul 17, 2025
Pasona to open resort on Awaji Island
The opening ceremony for Hatake no Resort Sansan Villa was held on Wednesday.
Kiyoshi Shibata stands in front of one of the rice paddies in Murayama, Yamagata Prefecture, where he produces the prefecture's signature rice brand Tsuyahime.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 17, 2025
Japan's rice farmers are confounded by Shinjiro Koizumi’s policies
Farming communities, a key base for the Liberal Democratic Party, are increasingly voicing their distress at how the rice situation is being handled.
Only two months into his role as agriculture minister, Shinjiro Koizumi has become the face of a risky political bet by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 16, 2025
Japan’s ‘rice minister’ is ruling party’s biggest election gamble
Shinjiro Koizumi’s reformist drive is testing the loyalty of Japan's rural population — the LDP’s most dependable voter bloc.
Alberto, a local farmer, sprays an apple orchard with pesticides in the village of Agia, in the Thessaly region, Greece, on June 12.
ENVIRONMENT / Sustainability
Jul 15, 2025
Europe's illegal pesticide trade surges as farmers cut costs
At least 14% of pesticides used on European Union fields today are illegal, up from around 10% in 2015.
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks on tariffs in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington in April.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 12, 2025
A U.S.-EU trade deal hinges on cars, agriculture and Trump
Cars and tariff levels on agriculture have emerged as key sticking points between the European Union and the U.S., sources have said.
Hiroshi Moriyama (left), secretary-general of the Liberal Democratic Party and also head of a suprapartisan group of Japanese lawmakers promoting Japan-China friendship, and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng held talks in Osaka on Friday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 11, 2025
China to resume Japanese beef imports
China banned Japanese beef imports after the outbreak of mad cow disease in Japan in 2001.
Outbreaks of rice stink bugs were confirmed in 37 prefectures last year, leading to lower yields in some areas. Similar damage is feared this year.
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2025
Pest outbreaks feared to affect rice harvests again
Last year, outbreaks of rice stink bugs, which prevent rice plants from bearing grains, were confirmed in 37 prefectures.
Matcha is added to beverages on offer at Kettl Tea in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles on May 20.
BUSINESS
Jul 6, 2025
Global matcha 'obsession' drinks Japan's tea farms dry
The boom is having to contend with a declining number of tea plantations in Japan and the threat of tariffs from the United States.
One of Aigen's solar-powered autonomous AI Element robots demonstrates how it can hammer down on specified targets at Bowles Farm in Los Banos, California, on June 26.
BUSINESS / Tech
Jul 6, 2025
AI robots fill in for weed killers and farm hands
Weeds are becoming immune to herbicides, but a shortage of laborers often leaves chemicals as the only viable option.
Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN
Jul 5, 2025
Government to release stockpiled rice for processed foods from August
The government will release its stockpiled rice for use in processed foods and beverages such as miso, rice crackers, sake and shōchū distilled spirits.
Farmers spray herbicide at Kazuhachi Hosaka's rice farm in Joetsu, Niigata Prefecture, on June 19.
JAPAN
Jul 5, 2025
In reversal, Japan now wants rice farmers to produce more. Will it work?
The new direction has taken on an unexpected urgency as Japan grapples with a shortage of the all-important staple.
A crop field in Oxnard, California, on June 18
BUSINESS / Markets
Jul 1, 2025
Immigration raids leave crops unharvested and California farms at risk
In the vast agricultural lands north of Los Angeles, farmers and field supervisors have said that ICE raids have led a majority of workers to stop showing up.
China’s unbeatable new production model export
China is not merely moving more goods; it is exporting a new, ruthlessly efficient production model powered by automation, AI and state-guided industrial optimization.
Extreme heat in Japan set to peak this week
People shield their eyes from the sun as they walk through a street on a hot day in Tokyo on July 26.
How Pakistan shot down India's cutting-edge fighter using Chinese gear
An Indian Air Force pilot gets out of a Rafale fighter jet during its induction ceremony at an air force station in Ambala, India, September 2020.
Australia announces new warships will come from Japan
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's Mogami-class frigate Niyodo sails at an undisclosed location in this image released Tuesday.
Italy's fast fashion hub becomes Chinese mafia battlefield
Signs for fast-fashion factories in Prato, Italy, on Friday. Chinese crime groups in the district thrive on the "Prato system" rife with corruption in the fast-fashion sector.
Australia announces new warships will come from Japan
The Maritime Self-Defense Force's Mogami-class frigate Niyodo sails at an undisclosed location in this image released Tuesday.
Fuji Rock's weekend of surprises was one of its best yet
Radwimps lead singer Yojiro Noda threw himself into the rock band’s Green Stage performance ahead of headliner Vampire Weekend.
How Trump is gaslighting on climate change — with Japan’s help
The Bishu Maru LNG tanker, owned by Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, next to the Freeport LNG terminal in Texas
With a new distillery, Suntory makes a spirited move on gin market
A staff inspects a distillation pot still at Suntory's new Osaka Spirits & Liqueurs Craft Distillery, which will focus on gin production and help Suntory capture a bigger slice of the fast-growing gin market.
Junglia brought dinos back to Okinawa. But will it bring tourists?
At Panorama Dining, one of Junglia’s two proper restaurants that also doubles as the rooftop Inifinity Terrace overlook, guests can pay extra to sit in balcony tables made to look like birds’ nests overlooking the park grounds.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

A mushroom cloud from the atomic bombing on Hiroshima taken from a U.S. military aircraft on Aug. 6, 1945. Copying the photo without permission is prohibited.
80 years on, a Japanese American hibakusha recalls the day the bomb dropped
By Elizabeth Beattie

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