일본 쌀 인사이트

In the latter half of last year, the price of rice in Japan suddenly skyrocketed. There are many reasons for this, but they can be summarized as a decrease in the production of high-quality rice due to abnormally high temperatures, an increase in rice consumption due to the Russo-Russian War and a surge in tourists, and hoarding aimed at raising prices. Japan's case teaches us a lesson that we too must thoroughly prepare for abnormal weather, a sudden decrease in production, the weaponization of food due to the outbreak of an international war, and blocking hoarding aimed at disrupting distribution. Looking at the phenomenon of the skyrocketing price of rice in Japan in November last year, the consumer price index (CPI) in Japan rose 2.7% compared to the same month of the previous year. The reasons are electricity and

In contrast to Korea, which is suffering from ‘rice overproduction’ despite successive market isolations, Japan is facing a ‘rice shortage phenomenon.’ ‘Consumption’ is cited as the underlying cause that affected the supply and demand situation. While rice consumption in Korea decreased more steeply than expected, demand in Japan actually increased due to an increase in tourists. In a situation where rice supply and demand forecasts are shaky, there are voices calling for improvements in statistics to be able to understand rice consumption trends. The rapid decline in consumption is cited as the cause of the plunge in rice prices this year. When the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs pulled out the market isolation card for the fourth time in August, it explained the reason for the decline in rice prices as ‘consumption decrease.’ The argument is that consumption plummeted faster than expected, resulting in more rice left over. Experts claim that there will be a large gap between the ‘expected’ consumption estimated through statistics and the ‘actual’ consumption. The ‘Grain Consumption Survey’ published by Statistics Korea every January serves as basic data for understanding rice consumption and estimating excess production. According to Statistics Korea, the decrease in household rice consumption has somewhat eased. Looking at the annual rice consumption trends per household, the decrease in consumption decreased from 3.0% in 2019 to 2.5% in 2020 and 0.6% last year. In his recent report titled “Diagnosis and Improvement Direction of Grain Consumption Surveys” published in the academic journal “Rural Economy,” Choi Jae-hyun, a researcher at the Korea Rural Economic Institute, said, “If we look at the recent period since 2017, the ‘rice production survey’ and ‘grain consumption survey’ do not seem to be a serious problem in terms of oversupply based on the figures,” and “It is difficult to easily explain the problem of rice price declines that have been repeated periodically in recent years despite the lack of a large gap in supply and demand.” He added, “We need to closely examine whether the information on the difference in supply and demand derived from the ‘grain consumption survey’ and ‘rice production survey’ is accurate.” Experts point out that it is difficult to closely understand rice consumption trends based on current statistics. Kim Jong-in, a professor at the Department of Northeast Asian International Trade and Logistics at Incheon National University, said, “(The Statistics Korea’s grain consumption survey) is meaningful as a survey to find out the total consumption, but it alone does not reveal consumption behavior.

Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said Tuesday that rice prices in Japan hit a record high in October, with agricultural cooperatives and other suppliers selling newly harvested rice to wholesalers at an average price of 23,820 yen (about $153.8) per 60 kilograms.