Japan faces lowest rice stockpile in over two decades Amid heatwave and tourism surge

Japan is grappling with its lowest rice stockpile this century, driven by a combination of extreme weather conditions and rising demand from international visitors.

Japan's rice stockpile has reached its lowest level of the century, with a tourism boom contributing to the decline, according to government officials, Caliber.Az reports citing the local media.

Private-sector rice inventories dropped to 1.56 million tons in June, marking a 20 per cent decrease from the previous year and the lowest level since 1999, when comparable records began, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries.

The decline in Japan's rice stockpile has been attributed to a combination of extreme weather conditions and increased demand from tourists. In 2023, Japan experienced its hottest September in 125 years, leading to reduced crop yields due to high temperatures and water shortages. According to Hiroshi Itakura from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, “The primary factors contributing to the record-low inventory are decreased production last year due to the heat and water scarcity, along with the relative affordability of rice compared to other crops like wheat.”

“The surge in demand from foreign tourists has also played a role,” Itakura noted, adding, “However, we are not facing a rice shortage situation.” Despite this, the trading price for rice has surged to a 30-year high, with wholesalers experiencing depleted stock and some supermarkets implementing price hikes and purchase limits. This trend is expected to persist until the new harvest in September.

As Japanese diets become more westernized and the country faces a demographic crisis, rice consumption has declined. Lower rice prices have discouraged younger generations from entering rice farming, leading to an aging farming population and abandoned rice paddies that are being overtaken by nature and wildlife, reports the Mainichi.

Conversely, rice demand increased to 7 million tons between June 2023 and last month, marking a rise of 100,000 tons from the previous year and the first increase in a decade. During the same period, the number of foreign tourists more than doubled compared to the previous year. Japan welcomed 17.78 million tourists in the first half of 2024, surpassing pre-pandemic levels by one million, according to recent figures. Assuming each foreign visitor consumed rice in two meals daily, their total demand for rice is estimated at 51,000 tons, more than twice the amount from a year ago.

Despite the rising prices, there are no current plans to utilize the government’s stockpile of 910,000 tons, the Asahi Shimbun reports. This reserve was established following a severe rice shortage caused by an unusually cool summer in 1993.