Japan faces worst rice shortage in decades

Japan has emerged from its hottest summer to its biggest rice shortage in 30 years, with empty shelves, surging prices and the government imploring shoppers not to panic buy. Supermarkets have limited customers to one bag at a time amid the shortages, which have been variously blamed on an influx of sushi-hungry tourists, extreme weather and decades of misguided agricultural policy. Online shoppers have had purchases abruptly cancelled or faced “lotteries”, where only some buyers get the rice they have ordered. Private sector inventories in June were at their lowest level since comparable records began in 1999, while standard 5kg bags of Japanese rice now cost about ¥3,000 ($21), up to 60 per cent higher than a year ago.

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