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August 08, 2025
 

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RICE

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.
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.
Bags of newly harvested Koshihikari brand rice are sold at a supermarket in Tokyo on Friday.
JAPAN
Aug 1, 2025
Japan's first rice crop of 2025 goes on sale at high prices
Rice prices may remain high even after autumn, leading consumers to struggle with their food spending.
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.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who serves concurrently as leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, waves to voters from atop an election campaign van during a rally Friday in Yokohama for Sunday's Upper House election.
JAPAN / Politics / FOCUS
Jul 19, 2025
Ishiba's future in balance as polls hint at rout in Upper House election
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba likes the nitty gritty of policy, cigarettes and making models, but his dream job as Japanese leader could go up in smoke this weekend.
Food banks are struggling to secure rice and other food items to distribute to people in need as inflation has put a dent in donations.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 18, 2025
As rice shortage hits donations, food banks urge politicians to tackle poverty
Food banks are struggling to secure rice and other food items to distribute to people in need as inflation has put a dent in donations.
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.
Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 3.3% from a year earlier in June, according to the internal affairs ministry.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 18, 2025
Inflation stays elevated after easing from two-year high
Japan’s key price measure cooled a tad more than expected while remaining well above the Bank of Japan’s target.
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.
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.
Junko Koeda, one of the latest members of the Bank of Japan's policy board, speaks during an interview at the central bank's headquarters in Tokyo on Monday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 9, 2025
New board member hints at possible raising of BOJ's price outlook
Junko Koeda, a former Waseda University economics professor, on Monday gave her first media interview since joining the board in March.
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.
U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks on tariffs in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington in April.
BUSINESS / Economy
Jul 1, 2025
Trump floats Japan tariff as top adviser says deals to come after July 4
The U.S. president cited what he said was Japan's unwillingness to accept U.S. rice exports, the latest round of brinkmanship before a July 9 deadline for higher tariffs.
Rice paddies in the city of Asahikawa, Hokkaido. Rice is a major crop for Hokkaido, with the region having produced 562,400 tons of it last year.
BUSINESS / Economy / Regional Voices: Hokkaido
Jun 30, 2025
U.S. import pressure raises concerns for Hokkaido agriculture
The U.S. is nudging Japan to import more rice, soybeans, and maize — vital crops that support Hokkaido's economy.
Government-stockpiled rice aiming at resolving persisting price rises displayed at a supermarket in Tokyo on May 31
BUSINESS
Jun 27, 2025
Japan private-sector rice imports soar in May
Restaurants and consumers are increasingly turning to U.S. brands in search of cheaper prices.
Bentos are popular with a wide range of people in Japan for convenience and price.
BUSINESS / Companies
Jun 24, 2025
Bento shop bankruptcies could hit a record in 2025
Inflation, weak economic growth and work-at-home arrangements are leading to a decline in sales, lower profits and losses.
A customer picks up a bag of government-stockpiled rice sold at a convenience store in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Jun 24, 2025
Price of rice in Japan falls below ¥4,000 per 5 kilograms
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba had aimed to push down rice prices to the ¥3,000-¥4,000 range by as early as mid-June.
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.
Trump: The $550 billion pledged by Japan is 'our money'
U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday. He told CNBC that investment pledges are like signing bonuses.
The United States imposes 15% 'reciprocal' tariff on most Japanese goods
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the White House on Wednesday.
Japan's inheritance tax is high, unforgiving and sometimes avoidable
The National Tax Agency at the Ministry of Finance, Kasumigaseki, Tokyo. Japanese tax authorities can bill foreign residents in Japan for assets inherited globally.
Photographer Bleg Bayraktar is winning social media with politeness
A video on Bayraktar's Instagram account of the Belgian photographer approaching an elderly worker in Tokyo's Shibuya has gone viral, garnering almost 9 million views.
Japan's inheritance tax is high, unforgiving and sometimes avoidable
The National Tax Agency at the Ministry of Finance, Kasumigaseki, Tokyo. Japanese tax authorities can bill foreign residents in Japan for assets inherited globally.
Photographer Bleg Bayraktar is winning social media with politeness
A video on Bayraktar's Instagram account of the Belgian photographer approaching an elderly worker in Tokyo's Shibuya has gone viral, garnering almost 9 million views.
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

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
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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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