Rice prices: Japan’s hot political issue, on and off the farm

Tariff-Free Rice to Be Auctioned Off 3 Months Early, as Japan Seeks to Tame High Prices for the Staple

The government will auction off the first batch of duty-free rice for the year on June 27, about three months earlier than usual, said Shinjiro Koizumi, the agriculture, forestry and fisheries minister, on Thursday.

FOCUS: Rice price cut rush puts Koizumi, ex-Japan PM son, back in spotlight

Japan's farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi has returned to the political spotlight by launching a push to lower rice prices amid rising household burdens, in a style reminiscent of his father, former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. The turnaround comes as the 44-year-old's prospects were widely seen as written off after he finished third in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's leadership race in September, hurt by a perceived lack of experience a…

Rice prices are Japan's hot political issue, on and off the farm

All is calm at Satoshi Yamazaki's rice farm, with its freshly planted rows of vivid-green seedlings, but a row over the cost of the staple in Japan is threatening to deal the government a blow at the ballot box. Shortages of the grain caused by a supply chain snarl-up have…

Japan to move up auctions for imported rice

This year's first auction for rice as staple food will take place on June 27 instead of the usual September, agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi said Thursday.

Rice prices a hot political issue in Japan

SANJO, Japan - All is calm at Satoshi Yamazaki's rice farm, with its freshly planted rows of vivid-green seedlings, but a row over the cost of the staple in Japan is threatening to deal the government a blow at the ballot box.

Rice prices Japan's hot political issue, on and off the farm

All is calm at Satoshi Yamazaki's rice farm, with its freshly planted rows of vivid-green seedlings, but a row over the cost of the staple in Japan is threatening to deal the government a blow at the ballot box.