Consumption of Domestic Rice Hits Record Low in Japan

Tokyo, July 28 (Jiji Press)--The amount of domestic rice consumed as a staple food in Japan in the year from July 2025 hit a record low of 6.83 million tons on a preliminary basis in terms of brown rice, it was learned Tuesday.

This was due to an increase in cheap foreign rice imported as an alternative to Japanese produce, whose prices jumped in the wake of severe shortages in summer 2024 and later.

The data was presented to the day's meeting of the food division of the Council on Food, Agriculture and Rural Area Policies, which advises the agriculture minister.

In September last year, the agriculture ministry estimated demand for domestic rice as a staple food for the one-year period at 6.97 million to 7.11 million tons. The projection was lowered to 6.91 million to 7.04 million tons in March this year, but actual consumption was even short of the revised range.

The rice market turmoil since summer 2024 came partly because the government's demand prediction turned out to be far below actual consumption.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]