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July 04, 2025
 

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INFLATION

Reports about fraudulent online rice shops to consumer affairs centers around the country spiked to 335 cases in April and May alone.
JAPAN
Jun 14, 2025
Reports of online rice scams surging in Japan
Reports about fraudulent online rice shops to consumer affairs centers around the country spiked to 335 cases in April and May alone, as much as is normally seen in a year.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks to reporters last month in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 13, 2025
Ishiba pledges cash handout for all citizens ahead of election
The handout would be ¥20,000 per person and an additional ¥20,000 would be added on top of that per child or low-income earner, Ishiba said.
Bank of Japan officials now see inflation slightly outpacing earlier forecasts, potentially paving the way for rate hike talks if global trade tensions subside, sources say.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 13, 2025
BOJ is said to see inflation running stronger than expected
Some officials see the relative strength in inflation reflecting a change in price-setting behavior with sharp increases in the price of rice likely to harden inflationary views.
Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Thursday.
JAPAN
Jun 12, 2025
Japan to move up auctions for imported rice
This year's first auction for rice as a staple food will take place on June 27 instead of the usual September, agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi said Thursday.
Bags of rice from the government's stockpile are sold at a Don Quijote store in Tokyo's Ota Ward on June 1.
JAPAN
Jun 11, 2025
Applications open for latest batch of stockpiled rice
Retailers who previously bought stockpiled rice under no-bid contracts can reapply, but only for amounts they can sell by August.
Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi speaks in a news conference after a Cabinet meeting in Tokyo on Tuesday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 10, 2025
Japan to release extra 200,000 tons of stockpiled rice as prices fall
The average price of a 5-kilogram bag of rice at supermarkets in the week through June 1 was ¥4,223, down ¥37 from the previous week.
Japan faces soaring rice prices, a powerful farming cooperative resistant to change, declining farmer numbers, falling rice consumption and conflicting government policies that hinder effective reform of the sector.
COMMENTARY
Jun 10, 2025
How ‘vintage’ rice is shaking up Japanese politics
Rice is where consumers have drawn the line. The staple rose by 98% in the past year, adding almost half a percentage point to headline inflation.
Tokyo's Asakusa district near Sensoji Temple. The Japanese government vowed to realize pay raises that exceed price increases in a stable way.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 7, 2025
Japan highlights wage hikes as cornerstone of economic growth strategy
Seeing wage hikes as a key part of its growth strategy, the government vowed to realize pay raises that exceed price increases in a stable way.
Many curry shops are going bankrupt in Japan as prices of mainstay ingredients have gone up due to a rice shortage, adverse weather and a weak yen.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 6, 2025
Soaring rice prices take a bite out of Japan's beloved curry shops
A total of 13 shops with more than ¥10 million in debt filed for bankruptcy in the year ended March — a record high for a second consecutive year.
Japan's household spending fell 0.1% from a year earlier in April, as the elevated cost of living weighs on consumer spending.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 6, 2025
April household spending drop deals blow to Japan's shrinking economy
Domestic demand will likely be a key factor in determining whether a technical recession can be avoided after the economy shrank in the first quarter.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba (left) and agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi attend the first ministerial meeting on stable rice supply, held at the Prime Minister's Office on Thursday.
JAPAN
Jun 6, 2025
Ishiba seeks probe on high prices at first rice meeting
A key issue in future discussions at the ministerial council will be how to optimize rice distribution.
Wages in Japan are falling on a real basis, in part because of rising food prices.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jun 5, 2025
Real wages in Japan fell 1.8% year on year in April
Inflation-adjusted pay has now fallen for four straight months.
Lawson plans to sell 1-kilogram and 2-kg bags of rice it bought from the government's stockpile at ¥360 ($2.50) and ¥700 respectively.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 4, 2025
Aging rice? Lawson prefers to call it 'vintage.'
As convenience stores prepare to sell government stockpiled rice from older harvests to consumers, Lawson says it will offer rice balls made of "vintage rice."
Komeito leader Tetsuo Saito speaks to reporters in Tokyo on Monday.
JAPAN / Politics
Jun 4, 2025
Komeito to propose sales tax cut on food, Yomiuri reports
A Komeito official confirmed the report, saying the tax cut idea will be among proposals in the campaign pledge due on Friday.
The number of "zombie companies" in Japan, which do not make enough to cover their interest payments, was estimated to have grown some 228,000 in fiscal 2023, one of the highest in a decade.
BUSINESS / Economy / FOCUS
Jun 3, 2025
'Zombie company' apocalypse might be the point of Japan's minimum wage push
Government efforts to accelerate the pace of pay increases could lead to poorly performing companies going out of business.
The average price of rice sold at some 1,000 supermarkets across Japan in the week through May 25 stood at ¥4,260 ($29.80) per 5 kilograms, down ¥25 from the previous week.
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2025
Retail prices for rice across Japan make first dip in three weeks
The average price in the week through May 25 stood at ¥4,260 ($29.80) per 5 kilograms, down by ¥25 from the previous week.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba speaks at an Upper House Budget Committee meeting on Monday as agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi looks on.
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2025
Japan to set up minister-level meeting to address rice supplies
The government released a further 300,000 metric tons of stockpiled rice last week in a bid to bring down prices.
Rice from government stockpiles is sold at a store in Sendai on Saturday.
JAPAN
May 31, 2025
41% of Japanese rice farmers expect price drop in 2026
A share of 72.3% of farmers, however, expect prices for 2025 rice to be higher than for 2024 rice.
Iris Ohyama began sales of government-stockpiled rice at a home center location in Chiba Prefecture on Saturday morning.
JAPAN
May 31, 2025
Japanese customers brave the rain to line up for cheap stockpiled rice
Lines formed in the early hours of Saturday morning at an outlet in Chiba Prefecture as people clamored to purchase 5 kilogram bags of rice for ¥2,000.
A rice shop owner listens to an online briefing by the farm ministry on the no-bid contract method of purchase for small retailers looking to buy stockpiled rice from the government, on Thursday in Tokyo.
JAPAN
May 30, 2025
Farm ministry starts accepting applications for older rice from small buyers
Smaller retailers and rice shops can buy rice stockpiled from the 2021 harvest from the government via no-bid contracts.
Magnitude 5.5 earthquake jars Tokara Islands amid flurry of seismic activity
A strong quake struck off the Tokara Islands on Thursday afternoon, with the island chain having recorded around 1,000 earthquakes since a burst of seismic activity first began on June 21.
Onosato's yokozuna promotion causes rare quirk in new sumo rankings
Newly promoted yokozuna Onosato holds a copy of the latest banzuke ranking in Anjo, Aichi Prefecture, on Monday.
A prophesied disaster (likely) won’t strike Japan this weekend
A viral manga prediction of a July 5 disaster has gripped Japan with anxiety and triggered an economic impact, but experts warn that while such dates are unreliable, the threat of a massive earthquake remains real. 
Over 900 earthquakes strike Tokara islands in space of two weeks
A screenshot shows many quakes occurring in the Tokara islands over the past 30 days, in this image taken from the U.S. Geological Survey website.
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Ghibli’s Isao Takahata exhibit shows how beloved anime is made
“The man who planted Japanese animation” exhibition includes a variety of sketches, drawings and animation cels from Isao Takahata films such as color design for characters by Michiyo Yasuda from "Grave of the Fireflies."
Flag football facing challenges and opportunities ahead
Japan’s women’s flag football team at the 2025 International Bowl in Los Angeles in June. The sport is enjoying continued growth in the country.
From Hokusai’s Great Wave, shinkansen to One Piece: a cultural treasure box for Lego Japan
Michael Ebbesen, general manager of Lego Japan, says Lego bricks based on Japanese culture have a rich global appeal and are sellable around the world.
With farmed fish, RelationFish swims against the tide in fine dining
Chef Hideaki Matsuo (middle) and the staff of Oseto Suisan Fisheries prepare to check on their sustainably farmed fish.
As Southeast Asia heats up, a Japanese cooling giant sees a major opportunity
An employee of Daikin Cambodia explains the use of different tools during an air conditioner installation training session in Phnom Penh. Daikin is one of Japan’s oldest air conditioning companies, but as Japan’s population falls, the firm is keying in on overseas growth.

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