The average price of newly harvested rice in Japan surged by 48 percent in September compared to a year earlier, driven by higher production costs and stronger market demand following a shortage, according to local media.
Until recently, rice had remained reasonably priced, even as food and commodity prices continued to rise.
However, the price of rice, Japan's staple food, has surged significantly, impacting both households and food businesses, with growing concerns that these elevated prices could persist.
Yoshiki Nakao, the owner of an Onigiri store in central Tokyo, expressed concern that the price of rice—a crucial ingredient in Onigiri, Japan's popular rice balls—will remain high.
"There is a sense of crisis. The price of rice has risen by nearly 1,000 yen (about 6.55 U.S. dollars) per five kilograms compared to last year. So, we are doing our best to adjust prices," he said.
In its latest consumer price index report, Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications revealed that rice prices climbed by 44.7 percent year-on-year in September, marking the largest increase since September 1975.
The rise has been attributed to shortages caused by extreme summer heat and by wholesalers hoarding rice in anticipation of a potential earthquake in August.
The country's Agriculture ministry forecasts that private-sector rice inventories will rise to 1.62 million tons by June 2025, up from the all-time low of 1.53 million tons a year earlier.
Despite expectations for an eventual rebound in supply, experts believe that rice prices will remain elevated.
"Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Japan's overall price levels rose, but rice prices remained stable. At that time, it was hard for rice prices to increase, but with recent shortages, prices have skyrocketed. Even if supply improves, prices are unlikely to fall back to last year's levels," said Masayuki Ogawa, an assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Utsunomiya University's School of Agriculture.
Some experts argue that rice prices have been too low for a long time and are now merely adjusting to align with the price increases seen in other commodities.
"In Japan, rice farming is primarily family-run. Because these family businesses lack the resources of larger corporations, they often accept lower prices during negotiations. As a result, rice prices have struggled to rise, even as prices for other goods have soared. The current shortage, though unfortunate, has provided an opportunity for prices to increase," the professor explained.
Experts suggest that rice prices are likely to stabilize at current levels, though the unpredictability of recent climate events makes future projections uncertain.
High production costs, shortages drive up rice prices in Japan
The opening day of the China Pavilion at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan Monday brought together climate experts, policymakers and students to explore how diverse sectors can come together to amplify climate messaging and enhance public participation. The China Pavilion was abuzz with energy and positivity for climate action on the first day of the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP29) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) held a series of events in collaboration with China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment to promote efforts in addressing climate change, a critical move as global leaders look to empower communities in the transition to a greener future.
"We focus on training and human resources development. So, of course, we are going to participate and observe what kind of agreements and discussions will be done during negotiations. But, simultaneously, our focus will be, okay, decisions are made, discussions are done, but after people return to their country and community, what kind of actions will be taken? And particularly enhancing everyone's capacity to promote climate change – that's going to be our main focus," said Mihoko Kumamoto, director of UNITAR's Division For Prosperity. Speakers at the event on public participation underscored current challenges, but highlighted how individuals, companies or countries can leverage their respective strengths to effectively communicate about climate action. They say change has to be enabled on the individual level in order for society as a whole to make meaningful progress toward collective climate goals.
The Youth Scholar Program was launched on the opening day, with organizers hopeful that young people can learn to collaborate to make the most of available resources and technology and contribute toward sustainable development.
"It's a really major program that collaborates with youth from all over the world. We are projected to have 1,000 students to join this program and we are going to manage them, to arrange them to attend some conferences, [carry out] an academic research program. They can learn from this program and set up their life goal to help us get into a sustainable life," said Lin Guoyu, founder and editor-in-chief of College Daily, a prestigious media platform aiming to help Chinese students overseas. Young students also shared their experiences of climate initiatives as well as their ideas on how action can lead to real change. The one thing all attendees agreed upon is that there is no time to waste.
The China Pavilion will host 10 themed days featuring various side activities during COP29, scheduled to run from Nov. 11 to 22.
COP29 China Pavilion looks to enhance public awareness, youth participation on climate action
