Japanese flock to South Korea to buy rice

The recent rise in Japanese rice prices has continued, with the average price of a 5-kilogram bag of rice in the market reaching a record high of 4,214 yen, about twice the same period last year.

More and more Japanese are turning their attention to South Korea, buying relatively cheap rice when traveling there.

According to reports from many Japanese media, the number of Japanese tourists has increased significantly on supermarket rice shelves in Seoul and other places in South Korea recently. These Japanese tourists said that the price of a 5-kilogram bag of rice in a Korean supermarket is only about half of that in Japan, which is equivalent to a “50% discount”, which makes people want to buy it and bring it back to Japan.

On social platforms, some Japanese also posted their experiences of bringing rice back from South Korea, introducing the materials, procedures and fees required for customs clearance, and some people brought back as much as 20 kilograms of rice at a time.

Statistics released by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan on the 14th showed that the country’s rice prices have hit a record high for 14 consecutive weeks. Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Taku Eto said that the current rice price trend is “extremely abnormal” and called on relevant parties to take measures to reduce rice prices.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries announced on the 16th that it will auction the third batch of government reserve rice from the 23rd to the 25th, with a quantity of 100,000 tons, and release it to the market through the winning bidder. Previously, the Japanese government had auctioned a total of 210,000 tons of reserve rice in two batches in March, but the rise in rice prices has not been effectively curbed.

Since the summer of 2024, the price of Japanese rice has continued to rise due to factors such as extreme high temperatures causing poor rice harvests. In August last year, the meteorological department issued a warning that the possibility of a major earthquake in the Nankai Trough in the Pacific Ocean east of Japan increased, causing people to hoard rice, and there was a “rice shortage”. With the listing of new rice, the “rice shortage” has eased, but rice prices remain high.