Japan Prefers Home-Grown

[Mulboyne]

Tonkatsu futures
Kyodo via Yahoo: Japan seeking to raise food self-sufficiency to 45% by 2015
A government panel has drafted a new basic agriculture policy plan setting Japan's food self-sufficiency rate target at 45 percent for fiscal 2015, agriculture ministry officials said Thursday. The final draft calls for Japan to boost the rate from 40 percent in fiscal 2003, which ended in March 2004, to the target on a calorie basis in the coming 10 years, five years behind schedule under the existing plan, they said. The draft plan seeks to maintain the self-sufficiency rate at 100 percent for the Japanese staple food of rice and raise the rate by 20 percentage points to 73 percent for pork and by 6 points to 88 percent for vegetables by fiscal 2015.

[Mulboyne]

Kyodo via Yahoo: Japan mulled importing Asian rice in 1960s
Japan considered helping Southeast Asian countries grow rice and importing the crops in the mid-1960s but the plan was thwarted by resistance from the farm ministry, which advocated a self-sufficiency policy for the country's staple food, according to diplomatic documents declassified Friday...Japan protects the domestic market for rice by a 490 percent tariff. During farm trade liberalization talks under the World Trade Organization, Japan designates rice as a politically sensitive item.

[Mulboyne]

Asahi: Point system planned for food made in Japan

To increase Japan's food self-sufficiency as well as consumption, the farm ministry plans to reward consumers who buy domestically produced food, sources said. Under the envisioned system, consumers would gain points each time they buy Japanese produce, such as vegetables, meat and fish. Points would be also given when they order dishes containing a high percentage of made-in-Japan ingredients at chain restaurants. Accumulated points can then be exchanged for local agricultural products or discounts on such commodities, according to the plan. In fiscal 2006, Japan's self-sufficiency rate dropped below 40 percent for the first time in 13 years. However, helped by growth in rice consumption due to higher wheat prices, the rate bounced back to 40 percent in fiscal 2007. "We want to maintain this upward trend for as long as possible," an official at the food security section of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said.

The ministry plans to request a budget for a trial run in fiscal 2009 in hopes that the project will eventually grow into a large-scale system. Next fiscal year, several companies will be commissioned to carry out the experiment. The ministry will also call on bento lunch box chains and convenience stores to join. According to the ministry, major food distributors and restaurant chains have shown interest in the project in hopes that the reward system will increase sales. Under the plan, participating companies will shoulder the costs of exchanging points for the rewards. To revitalize agricultural communities, discounts on stays at guest houses run by farming families are also being considered. Domestically produced food items are generally more expensive than imports, although many Japanese people have opted to buy Japanese since the scare involving tainted frozen gyoza dumplings from China and other imports.