Japanese queue for hours as rice shortage deepens
Japanese queue for hours as rice shortage deepens
Rising prices and poor harvest create political pressure for Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba ahead of July poll
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Clarification: They are queuing for cheap rice.
I can go to any supermarket in my city and buy rice. I just have to be willing to pay four times what I’m used to for it. It is getting harder to find supermarkets still selling 10kg bags because those things are approaching ¥10,000.
Japan has had a more severe shortage of potato chips than this.
10000 yen is 60 EUR.
Or 69 freedom buckaroos for 22 pounds of rice
That's insane to think about. I usually buy a 20 lb bag of Thai Jasmine rice for a little over $20 her in the US. I think I would seriously break down and cry if I had to pay almost $70.
Did I mention they have massive tariffs on foreign rice specifically so it doesn't outcompete more expensive Japanese rice?
so basiclaly they shot themselves in the foot. much with cheaper EVs,.
1kg bags in Germany cost 2.50 Euro for Jasmin, 3 for Basmati. One Euro for cheap parboiled. All discounter store brand. Risotto 2 Euro, that stuff is grown in Italy.
...10kg prices are practically identical, or better put if you shop at a place than sells 10kg bags suddenly the 1kg bags are expensive.
Equivalent to 48 toonies for those of us up in cobra chicken land
cobra chicken
I've never heard them called that before, but it's so perfect. I call them little dinosaurs, because if you piss one off, it becomes very clear that they are descended from terrifying ancient beasts.
Cobra chicken is a new one to me! Very fitting. 🤣
Nice.
rice
Baby
under pressure
Isn't it not just cheap rice, but cheap Japanese rice? People in Asia are very particular about rice. They should be, rice from Japan, China, Cambodia, Taiwan, etc. all have a different taste. Nationalism plays in to it, but they are different. I think rice might be the ultimate Terroir crop.
Not just Asia, Italians and Spaniards are also quite particular about rice.
Look, I'm not particular about rice, but if I see long rice on the risotto, what I'll do isn't even covered in the Geneva conventions.
...that's exactly what I mean. All the broken bits and pieces get shipped to Germany to make Milchreis because it really doesn't matter what the grains look like if you're soaking them to smithereens anyway. Into pudding, that is. Which you should totally try on a cold day: Dump into sweetened milk (vanilla if you want), quick boil, 30-40 minutes of soaking at falling/low heat, add cinnamon, maybe some coarse raw sugar for texture variation, eat as-is or with apple sauce.
Only got Jasmin or such at home and still crave the stuff? Well, prepare it. Nothing's stopping you.
That is wild! In Denmark I buy rice for 15 kr (~2€) / kg. Granted, it's probably nowhere near the quality of Japanese rice. But still, what a price difference.
Setting aside the rice shortage, the Japanese government has laws in place to keep rice prices high for... I have no idea why. A big part of the shortage is that blowing up in their faces.
I'm guessing it's to protect the rice farmers, since if the price decreases enough, they'll have to either produce other crops or do something else entirely. They're already having enough problems with people moving to cities, so I doubt they want to create even more incentive.
Farms in Japan are likely disappearing as they are elsewhere. Attempting to protect domestic supply isn't a bad idea. Doing it in a way that is not detrimental to the population would probably be helpful.
for cheap rice
But isn’t this just the definition of a shortage? The thing becomes scarce and so what IS available becomes incredibly expensive? I don’t see the differentiation you are trying to make. Wild price inflation happens when there is in fact not enough of the thing to go around.
That's 22lbs for $69. Yikes
Oh so it's only poor people who are struggling. Not to worry then. Back to it lads.