Photo/Illutration Farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi speaks at a news conference on May 23. (Photo by Nobufumi Yamada) 

To lower rice prices by June, the government is seeking to release its emergency rice reserves through direct contracts with sellers rather than auctions, the new farm minister announced on May 23.

“The basic direction is to release the government stockpiled rice under ‘voluntary contracts’ so that it will be available on store shelves in the 2,000 yen  ($14) range (for 5-kilogram bags) as early as the beginning of June,” Shinjiro Koizumi said at a news conference after a Cabinet meeting.

The ministry has auctioned off 310,000 tons of rice from the government’s emergency reserves and a fourth round of auctions had been scheduled for the end of May.

However, the fourth round was canceled after it was pointed out that under the auction system, the highest bidder wins the rice and then passes on the higher price to customers.

To keep prices down, the government is considering switching to releasing rice directly through voluntary contracts with vendors.

Koizumi explained that he had obtained the understanding of the Finance Ministry regarding the voluntary contracts.

According to the farm ministry, the latest national average price of rice at about 1,000 supermarkets nationwide was 4,268 yen for 5 kg—more than double the average from the same period last year.

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