People in Japan eat less rice & more yoghurt due to rising costs
As a result of continued high rice prices, households in Japan are switching to eating yoghurt.
According to The Mainichi, a survey on Tokyo households between January and March revealed that people have reduced their spending on rice, instead opting for yoghurt.
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Japan struggling with rice shortage that drove prices up
Since last summer, Japan has been struggling with a rice shortage that drove prices up. Experts say the shortage is due to various factors, including a sharp rise in tourism and people dining out more.
Additionally, when bread prices rose due to the Russia-Ukraine war, Japanese households also gravitated towards eating rice.
To cope with the dwindling supply, some supermarket chains have even introduced a policy limiting shoppers to one bag of rice per visit. Some have also resorted to rice imports, which are reportedly not popular with locals.
US President Trump noted this crisis, and even threatened Japan with higher tariffs for not buying American rice.
“They won’t take our rice, and yet they have a massive rice shortage,” he wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.
Eaters adapt to higher rice costs
A survey on Tokyo households from earlier this year, based on consumption behaviours from January to March, revealed a surprising way that the Japanese are coping with the higher costs.
While nearly 60% of responders report spending less on rice, yoghurt appears to be what has replaced it. This was especially significant for breakfast, where yoghurt consumption increased by nearly 5% compared to the same period last year.
Meanwhile, breakfast rice consumption dropped by over 5% during the same period.
One expert weighed in that gluten-free trends may have had an impact on Japanese people picking yoghurt.
“The recent trend is to limit carbohydrates and consume more protein. Yoghurt is chosen as an easily accessible source of protein,” she said.
She added that this may also be because consuming yoghurt is time-efficient.
“There is a growing focus on time efficiency, leading more people to prefer quicker and easier breakfast options.”
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Rising cost of rice in Japan causes families to switch to yoghurt for breakfast
