NEWS
JAPAN RICE SHORTAGE: SAKE BREWERS CAN’T GET SAKE RICE AS MORE FARMERS GROW COOKING RICE
By Siulan Law Mathews DipWSET
19-5-2025
Source: Unsplash
Sake brewers in Japan are struggling to get hold of the ingredients needed for brewing as farmers focus on rice varieties that are unsuitable for brewing amid severe cooking rice shortage.
Prices have surged for rice varieties that are used for cooking and eating, which has led farmers to focus more on those and less on the sake-producing ones.
Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun reported that some sake producers are considering suspending or reducing production.
"We're concerned about whether we can even procure the necessary amount of ingredients, given the reduction in paddies growing sake rice," a representative from major brewer Kizakura Co. told the newspaper.
According to Asahi Shimbun, the price of sake rice never exceeded the price of cooking rice between 2013 and 2023.
However, following a shortage of the latter, prices for consumption rice shot up to a record high of ¥24,006 (USD165.2) per 60kg bag in January 2025. It climbed again in February 2025, this time to ¥24,523.
These are much higher sums than the ¥23,655 average offered for the same quantity of Yamada Nishiki rice, the most expensive sake rice variety used to make the country’s most premium expressions.
This price difference encouraged farmers to switch to growing cooking rice over sake rice.
“All we can do is patiently ask farmers to keep on growing sake rice as before,” sake maker Gekkeikan said.
The causes for rice shortage in Japan is multi-faceted. One immediate cause is that the public rushed to stockpile rice last May after a warning was issued against a possible huge earthquake off Japan's Pacific coast.
The rice shortage has worsened due to hot weather and water shortages affecting rice crops, along with increased demand from record numbers of foreign tourists.
In 2024, the export value of sake hit ¥43.5 billion, amounting to 3.45 million 9-litre cases, with producers exporting to 80 countries around the world.
The shortage of sake rice looks set to dent the growth in exports of Japanese sake despite that it has recently won intangible heritage status from UNESCO.
(the writer can be contacted at: info@thewinechronicle.com)
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