Soaring price, shifting policies deepen woes for Japanese rice farmers

Japanese rice farmers are facing intensified pressure from both persistent price hikes and policy U-turns, leaving them in a dilemma about future production.

The average price of rice in Japan has reached 4,267 yen (about 26.95 U.S. dollars) per 5 kilos, remaining at an elevated level, according to data released by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries on Friday.

Kazuo Ishizuka, a 91-year-old farmer in the main rice-producing region of Niigata, has been growing and selling rice for over 30 years.

He told China Central Television that increasing rice price has led to a clear decline in the number of his customers.

"If the price of rice goes up further, it will be difficult to sell. Sales have slowed down and people are buying less. We worry that if we set the price too high, we'll lose customers, so we hope the price will be maintained at a moderate level," Ishizuka said.

Japan has a 50-year-old policy of reducing rice production, which, along with an aging population, has forced some paddies to lie fallow.

In 2025, the Japanese government released a large amount of reserve rice to stabilize the price, then changed course to boost rice production. However, incumbent Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi reversed the policy once again after taking office in October 2025, and the long-standing policy of reducing rice production only halted for four months.

The repeated policy shifts have left farmers struggling to adapt.

"As rice farmers like us are getting older, the number of rice growers is gradually decreasing, and so is the output. If the policy of reducing production is overly implemented, it will be very troublesome. But if there is an excess of rice, this is the only way. In mountainous areas like ours, if the policy of reducing production is pushed, paddies will be abandoned, which is troubling. We hope government's policies will allow us to continue farming our existing fields. If the rice price drops too much, it won't even cover our costs. We elderly farmers just can't make it," Ishizuka said.

Tomoyuki Kobayashi, general manager of the NX Logistics Research Institute and Consulting, attributes the sustained rice price hikes to multiple factors, including supply-demand dynamics, circulation issues, policies, and the broader macroeconomic environment.

Given Japan's current economic situation, Kobayashi predicted that rice prices would remain high.

"The price of rice is indeed difficult to control. While reserve rice has been released to meet demand, the price still did not drop. This is because the reserve rice hasn't circulated adequately in the market, a situation that has persisted for some time. Government policy isn't explicitly aimed at significantly lowering prices nor deliberately pushing them higher. However, the domestic economy is entering a phase of moderate inflation. Given the situation, the overall price of rice may continue to rise," Kobayashi said.

Soaring price, shifting policies deepen woes for Japanese rice farmers

Soaring price, shifting policies deepen woes for Japanese rice farmers

As the year 2026 marks the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China (CPC), figures from international communist parties extended their congratulations and hailed the CPC's achievements in leading China's development and governance.

Jiri Mantysalo, vice chairman of the Communist Party of Finland, who personally visited China last year, highlighted the CPC’s flexibility in addressing challenges from modern Marxist perspective.

"The CPC has been flexible, I would say, to address challenges in society but with modern Marxism perspective in my opinion. For me it's crystal clear that without the CPC, China would not be able to see this kind of development. The Communist Party of China has built and is still building its policy through clear vision of improving people's life and also advancing the harmony between humans and the environment, nature," he said.

Francesco Maringio, a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Italy, said the CPC has always adhered to its original aspiration of steering China toward national rejuvenation.

"I think in Chinese, the expression is 'Buwang Chuxin,' (meaning) never forget (why) you started. So, this path from 1921 to now is the extraordinary path made by the CPC. This party doesn't just administer the country, but it steers the country itself," he said.

"It's a leadership understood in ideological terms, (a party) who has put the study of Marxism back to the center of party work, because this is in this era demands theoretically clarity, not just management competence. So in one sentence, the CPC today is extremely selective, increasingly educated vanguard of the society with a clear structure and identity, tasked with steering the country toward national rejuvenation, not just administrating a large and huge country," Maringio said.

A gathering marking the 105th founding anniversary of the CPC was held at the Great Hall of the People on Wednesday morning in Beijing. Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, attended the event.

Figures of int'l communist parties hail CPC's achievements over past 105 years