Craftspeople say tatami must be redefined, noting that traditional methods of tatami-making could vanish within five years if the decline continues at its current pace. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/12/30/companies/tatami-foreign-clients/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #companies #tokyo #maff #kumamoto #japanesecrafts
Japan's rice policy is at a crossroads as prices of the country's staple food stay around record highs, squeezing households. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/28/japan/japan-rice-policy-crossroads/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #rice #agriculture #maff #norikazusuzuki
The government proposed a draft financial support plan for oyster farmers affected by the mass deaths of farm-raised oysters in Hiroshima, Okayama and Hyogo prefectures along the Seto Inland Sea. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/11/japan/aid-oyster-farmers/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #fishing #food #hiroshima #okayama #hyogo #maff
Japan's average retail rice price hit a new record high for the first time in three weeks, according to agriculture ministry data. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/business/2025/12/06/average-rice-price-new-high/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #business #rice #food #inflation #agriculture #maff
The supply of ham, bacon and other processed meat products may become less stable in Japan after the country suspended pork imports from Spain following confirmed cases of African swine fever. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/12/04/japan/asf-dried-ham-supply/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #spain #pigs #animals #maff #swinefever
Hiroshima Prefecture — which accounts for about 60% of Japan’s oyster production — is facing a crisis after farmed oysters began dying en masse, prompting fears among farmers about the industry’s survival. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/11/20/japan/society/hiroshima-oyster-deaths/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #society #oysters #hiroshima #norikazusuzuki #maff #environment
As of Oct. 25, the projected harvest of staple rice in Japan for 2025 stood at 7,468,000 tons, up 10% from the previous year, according to the agriculture ministry. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/11/19/japan/rice-harvest-rise-2025/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #rice #agriculture #maff
As a response to the recent surge in rice costs, officials are considering the distribution of “rice tickets” to make the staple grain more affordable for certain households. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/11/12/japan/society/rice-tickets/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #society #food #rice #agriculture #maff #osaka
The average price of rice sold at supermarkets across Japan dropped for the fourth straight week, the farm ministry announced. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/10/18/japan/japan-supermarket-price-falls/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #rice #agriculture #maff
With early shipments of rice from the 2025 harvest having reached the market, attention is turning to supply, demand and prices amid uncertainty over how this summer's weather will affect yields. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/10/17/japan/new-rice-crop-competition/?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=mastodon #japan #rice #agriculture #shinjirokoizumi #maff
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