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   Minoru Saba (minorusaba@toad.social)'s status on Saturday, 15-Feb-2025 16:22:52 JST Minoru Saba

   "rice shortages were first felt last summer, leading to a spike in prices"
   "...shortage was resolved with...the new harvest in the fall" but prices remained high which #Japan's agriculture ministry attributed "to a distribution bottleneck"
   "...speculative purchasing...and some farmers’ reluctance to sell... contributed to keeping rice prices high"
   https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15626936
   🔸"Distribution bottleneck" sounds euphemistic.
   Plenty of rice at local supermarket, but too pricey so eating less rice.

   • Embed this notice
     Minoru Saba (minorusaba@toad.social)'s status on Saturday, 15-Feb-2025 16:50:41 JST Minoru Saba

     in reply to

     "...the store has begun selling California rice, which is about 1,000 yen cheaper than domestically produced grain" (6 Aug 2024)
     https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15378092
     In the past #Japan faced pressure to import US rice in trade negotiations.
     With upcoming elections in Japan & rice prices worrying voters, am wondering if there's a chance of a deal with #California
     #rice

   • Embed this notice
     Minoru Saba (minorusaba@toad.social)'s status on Sunday, 16-Feb-2025 21:21:19 JST Minoru Saba

     in reply to

     "Japan's private rice imports have already reached a record-high 468 tons...on top of the around 770,000 tons of rice imported by the Japanese government, mainly from the United States, China and Thailand"
     "...a major Japanese trading house that imports rice said there was strong demand from the restaurant sector"
     https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20250216/p2g/00m/0bu/028000c
     #Japan #rice #imports