Japan: Federation of rice wholesalers’ associations to sell rice coupon at lower price

By JIJI

The price of a limited-time rice coupon that will be sold to municipalities in Japan will go down from the usual ¥500 to a uniform ¥477, the national federation of rice wholesalers’ mutual aid cooperative associations said Friday.

Costs related to the coupons were cut as much as possible in order to lower the sales price, said the federation, known as Zenbeihan, which will issue the coupons starting as soon as late December.

The National Federation of Agricultural Cooperative Associations, or Zen-noh, said Thursday that it will sell its rice coupons to municipalities at prices ¥10 to ¥20 lower than ¥500.

Zenbeihan has a share of about 80% of rice coupons sold across Japan.

Both Zenbeihan and Zen-noh “have slashed costs as much as possible so consumers can use rice coupons easily,” agriculture minister Norikazu Suzuki told a news conference Friday.

Rice coupons are used to purchase ¥440 worth of rice. The margin of ¥60 from the sales price covers costs for coupon printing and profit.

In its recent economic package, the government expanded grants to local governments to help them distribute rice coupons to residents as part of efforts to cushion the impact of rising prices.

The rice coupons set to be issued by the two organizations this time will be valid until September 2026.

This article has been republished from The Japan Times.