Japan's New Rice Prices Seen Falling after 2-Year Rise

Tokyo, July 17 (Jiji Press)--Prices of newly harvested rice in Japan are increasingly likely to fall this year after rising for two straight years.

This month, the Kagoshima Prefectural Economic Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives notified local agricultural cooperatives of suggested purchase prices for early-season rice that were about 20 pct lower than the previous year. Advance payments from the cooperatives to rice farmers are expected to be lower as well.

Meanwhile, advance payments for early-season Koshihikari-brand rice produced in Miyazaki Prefecture, much of which is shipped to the Honshu main island of the country, were set at 18,000 yen per 60 kilograms of brown rice, down 45 pct from 32,600 yen in 2025.

Lower prices for rice to be harvested in 2026 reflect larger-than-usual private-sector rice stocks.

At supermarkets, the average rice price had hovered above 4,000 yen per 5 kg before beginning to fall in January. In the first week of this month, the price fell below 3,500 yen for the first time in about a year and a half.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]