This year’s rice now being sold at 5,980 yen for 5 kg… The high prices are due to an increase in purchase prices from farmers and high prices for branded rice from the 2024 harvest. “Stockpiled rice” will be on sale until the end of August… Will the deadline be extended?

The new rice for 2025 is starting to appear in stores nationwide in Japan, but there are concerns about high prices.

Jun Ogawa, president of Ogawaya Rice Store, expressed relief that despite concerns over heat and water shortages, the crop turned out better than expected.

In Nagoya, Aichi, specialty rice stores welcomed “Tanabata Koshihikari,” harvested around August 7, according to the old lunar calendar. The purchase price is 1.5 times higher than in 2024, with a 5kg bag priced at 5,980 yen, including tax, due to its status as a brand rice. Ogawa noted that the store is striving to maintain this price through business efforts.

Meanwhile, “Hanaechizen,” a local brand rice, sold in Fukui’s Sakai city supermarkets for 4,514 yen for 5kg, a 60% increase from the previous year. Surprisingly, sales were steady, with customers eagerly buying the new rice, according to Masato Suto, manager of Sakai’s PLANT2 store.

Analysts attribute the high prices to increased upfront payments from agricultural cooperatives to farmers and the continued high prices of 2024 branded rice, says Naoya Matsudaira, assistant professor at Utsunomiya University.

The average supermarket rice price rose to 3,737 yen per 5kg, the first increase in two weeks. While blended rice prices, including surplus stock rice, have decreased, branded rice remains pricey.

Some Tokyo supermarkets, like the Maruyasu, are holding off on selling the new rice, as explained by representative Junko Matsui, due to its initial price surge.

With branded rice exceeding 4,000 yen per 5kg and surplus stock rice selling for about 2,000 yen, its sales must conclude by the end of August, per agricultural ministry guidelines. Matsui shared that with sales quotas lifted, inventory is dwindling, as unsold stock might warrant a sale period extension.

Experts warn this could affect new rice prices. There are calls for extending the surplus rice’s sale period, with the potential impact on pricing still uncertain, as noted by Matsudaira. The situation is drawing considerable attention.