Japan’s record drop in rice supplies blamed on tourism

Japanese government officials believe that a massive increase in tourism may be one of the reasons for the country’s decreasing rice stockpile.

Rice inventories in the private sector fell to 1.56 million tons in June, the lowest level since Japan began gathering data in 1999 and 20% lower than the 1.97 million tons recorded in June 2023. Over 3 million tourists visited Japan in March, a 69.5% increase compared to the same period the previous year. Despite the declining rice stockpile, farm ministry official Hiroshi Itakura told Agence France-Presse that “we are not in a situation of facing shortages of rice.”