Things have got really expensive here during the last year. Obviously, a large part of this is because the yen is so weak, so all the prices for imports have skyrocketed (except tourists, they come for free it seems…) But also local products have increased in price, in particular: rice.
Compared to normal Japanese people, I eat comparatively little rice, a large bag lasts me several months. Therefore, I tended to watch the sales and usually bought my rice at around 1,980 yen for five kilos of Akitakomachi rice from Akita prefecture. This very same rice at the very same supermarket now goes for 4,090 yen (without sales) for five kilos. I’m quite shocked.
The reason is inflation and high prices all around, but also because there was a quite bad harvest last year because of dry weather; typhoon-related floods also diminished the harvest in other areas of Japan. On top of all that, there was an “advisory” by the JMA (Japan Meteorological Agency) last August about the increased risk of a megaquake along the Nankai Trough, that stretches from central to southwestern Japan in the Pacific Ocean. Note that they also mentioned something about “in the next 100 years”, which didn’t prevent people from stockpiling rice immediately.
In response to the price hike, the Japanese Government has decided to sell about 10% of their rice reserve of 1,000,000 tons to keep prices stable. So far, I haven’t seen much movement in prices; the cheapest 5 kilos at the cheapest supermarket are 3,180 yen right now. I’m wondering if any of that cheap rice will make it to Kyoto or even any of the rural areas at all. I’ll keep you posted.