May 27, 2025
Koizumi promising half price rice from early June
After stepping in as agriculture minister following Taku Eto's dismissal over some tone-deaf rice price comments, Shinjiro Koizumi has quite a tough set of challenges ahead. In good news (I think!) for most of us, he has come out and stated that half price rice will be hitting store shelves in early June, so hopefully that happens and we get some financial reprieve soon.
Image created via Canva
The plan involves releasing 300,000 metric tons of government stockpiled rice harvested in 2021 and 2022 to major retailers through a no-bid contract. Additionally, to help retailers the government will cover transportation costs and waive the usual requirement to replenish the emergency stockpile.
I'm hoping that not replenishing the stockpile doesn't solve one problem now to create a bigger one later, especially if farmers are hit with a bad harvest or natural disaster down the line. For now though, if this move can actually bring some relief at the supermarket checkout, I'm all for it. Let's just keep our fingers crossed that the rollout goes smoothly and that cheaper rice isn't just a short-term fix but part of a longer-term plan to make staple foods more affordable.
4 Comments
BigfamJapan
on May 27
Off topic, but were you able to exchange points? I tried putting in my number on the new exchange page, but it didn't work.
genkidesu
on May 27
@BigfamJapan not yet, the page still glitches and logs me out when I go to that section of the site. I emailed City-Cost via the contact form and they replied quickly, saying that they will allow additional time to submit the exchange requests once it's fixed. Hopefully it will be up and running soon!
genkidesu
on May 27
@BigfamJapan Just tried it again and I also have the phone prompt error, I think it's because we already verified our numbers before and it says it should be a one-off verification.
BigfamJapan
on May 27
@genkidesu good to know we'll have extra time to submit this month. I'll try to sit tight so! I just tried publishing another post with a photo, but I still can't add photos. I noticed you could add one on this post, so I was hopeful, but I can't do it yet!