Video footage taken on Feb. 12 at a storage facility in Saitama Prefecture shows piles of rice reserves stocked by the government for emergencies. (Jin Nishioka)

Photo/Illutration About 20,000 tons of rice, part of the government’s reserve stocks, are stored in this warehouse in Saitama Prefecture on Feb. 12. (Jin Nishioka)

In response to escalating prices and a potential shortage of rice nationwide, the agriculture ministry will announce details of its planned rice reserve release on Feb. 14.

Prior to the announcement, a government rice storage facility in Saitama Prefecture provided rare media access on Feb. 12, revealing large stacks of rice bags filling the warehouse.

That warehouse alone holds about 20,000 tons of rice, or enough to fill 300 million bowls.

It represents 2 percent of the total rice reserves held by the government. As of June last year, the ministry had stocked 910,000 tons of rice across approximately 300 similar facilities nationwide.

The locations of these rice storage facilities are kept undisclosed for security reasons.

Inside the Saitama warehouse, large bags of rice weighing one ton each were stacked up to five meters high along the aisles, while smaller 30-kilogram bags were also stacked like walls, each marked with a seal indicating that they were for reserve use.

The ministry typically buys 200,000 tons of rice each year for emergency reserves, storing the rice for up to five years before selling it, mainly for animal feed.

Rice reserves have traditionally only been released in emergencies, such as natural disasters or poor harvests.

However, the ministry has now revised its policy to allow for rice distribution in cases of market disruption, including when supply chain issues contribute to price spikes.

To maintain sufficient reserves, the new policy requires the ministry to buy back the same amount of rice released in these situations within a year.

The decision follows a surge in rice prices, which have jumped more than 50 percent in recent months.

According to the internal affairs ministry, the average price of a 5-kilogram bag of Koshihikari rice rose from 2,414 yen ($15.65) in June 2024 to 3,775 yen by December the same year.

In urban areas, prices have exceeded 4,000 yen per bag, partly due to the reduced market supply exacerbated by speculative trading.

“The government should not be involved in price controls, but the recent price increase has had a significant impact on people’s lives,” said agriculture minister Taku Eto on Feb. 12. “The price hike has been too sharp, which is why we have made this decision.”

The ministry plans to sell the released rice to distributors through an auction, with details of the quantities and eligible buyers to be announced this week.

(This article was written by Nobufumi Yamada and Eiji Zakoda.)






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