The calorie-based food self-sufficiency rate stood at 38% for fiscal 2024, unchanged for the fourth year in a row, the agriculture ministry said Friday. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/10/10/japan/food-self-sufficiency-rate/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #maff #food
Farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi downplayed criticism on Friday over his ministry's handling of a licensing deal for a prized grape variety that sparked an official protest from producers. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/09/26/japan/politics/koizumi-grape/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #politics #shinjirokoizumi #agriculture #maff #fruit #newzealand #yamanashi
After decades of sharp policy swings since World War II, Japan's rice farmers are greeting the government's latest call to boost output with skepticism. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/09/17/japan/japan-rice-growers-buffeted-by-postwar-policy/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #rice #agriculture #food #maff
Agricultural minister Shinjiro Koizumi has decided to run in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's upcoming leadership race, sources said Friday. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/09/12/japan/politics/koizumi-ldp-election/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #politics #ldp #shinjirokoizumi#maff
Japan's agriculture ministry decided to extend the deadline for selling government-stockpiled rice released under discretionary contracts, believing slow deliveries to retailers is making it difficult to sell all of it. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/08/20/japan/rice-sales-deadline-extension/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan#maff #agriculture #rice
Retail prices of rice at about 1,000 supermarkets across Japan averaged ¥3,737 per 5-kilogram bag from Aug. 4 to 10, up ¥195 from the previous week and around 1.4 times the price a year earlier. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/08/19/japan/society/rice-price-increase-august/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #society#maff #rice #agriculture
Japan’s farm ministry has apologized for its erroneous rice supply and demand forecasts, which Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba admitted were what caused prices to surge across the nation in the past year. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/08/08/japan/politics/ldp-policy-panel-on-rice/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #politics #food#maff #rice #shigeruishiba #shinjirokoizumi #ldp #agriculture
Japan may abandon its de facto policy of limiting the cultivation of rice in response to the country's severe shortage of the staple grain and soaring prices. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/08/04/japan/japan-rice-policy-shift/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #rice #inflation#maff #agriculture
The diversification of rice sales channels may have contributed to the surge in prices of the staple since last summer, according to a survey released by the agriculture ministry Wednesday. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/07/30/rice-price-surge-survey/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #rice#maff #inflation
The agriculture ministry said Wednesday that it forecasts "frequent" outbreaks of stink bug varieties that cause issues with rice crops in many parts of the country. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/07/10/japan/japan-rice-pest-outbreak-fear/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #rice #agriculture#maff
For more than half a century, the Japanese government has encouraged rice farmers to grow less of the crop so that prices remain relatively high and stable. Now the country is preparing for a reversal. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/07/05/japan/rice-production-reversal/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #rice#maff #agriculture #ldp #shigeruishiba #niigata #inflation
Private-sector rice imports to Japan are soaring as domestic rice prices remain high, with May imports up 125 times compared to the average last year. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/06/28/japan/foreign-rice-imports-up/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #rice #trade #tariffs#maff #shinjirokoizumi #inflation
Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi said Friday the country would oppose any call by the European Union to add eels to an endangered species list that would limit trade. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/06/27/japan/koizumi-eel-eu/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #eel #shinjirokoizumi#maff #eu
The average price of rice at about 1,000 supermarkets across Japan in the week through June 15 was ¥3,920 per 5 kilograms, below ¥4,000 for the first time since the week ended March 2, the agriculture ministry has said. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/06/24/japan/japan-rice-price-falls-below-4000/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #rice #inflation#maff #shinjirokoizumi