Japan is facing a serious rice crisis, with prices rising quickly and supply falling short. The cost of rice has nearly doubled over the past year due to several factors, including extreme heat damaging crops and a rise in demand from growing tourism. Since rice is Japan’s staple food, the issue has become so important that a new agriculture minister has jokingly called himself the ''rice minister.''
The situation has also had political consequences. The previous agriculture minister was forced to resign after making a joke about never needing to buy rice because he receives it for free—something many people found inappropriate during a food crisis.
To deal with the emergency, the government announced it would release 300,000 tons of rice from its emergency stockpile. The goal is to lower prices and make rice available again in stores. Many Japanese citizens are hoping that rice prices will return to normal soon. For now, the crisis highlights how climate change, tourism, and public communication can all affect food systems—and how seriously people take access to essential goods like rice.
Vocabulary:
• crisis (noun) – a serious problem or difficult situation
• skyrocket (verb) – to increase very quickly
• scarce (adj) – not enough; difficult to find
• staple (noun) – a basic and essential food or product
• resign (verb) – to leave a job or position, often because of a mistake or problem
• appropriate (adj) – suitable or acceptable in a situation
• stockpile (noun) – a large saved amount of something for future use
• crop (noun) – a plant grown for food
• release (verb) – to make something available or let it go
• apologise (verb) – to say you are sorry
Source: Behind the News