Japan will loosen its grip on the country’s fiercely guarded rice stockpile as prices soar to their highest levels ever

(Credit: Pornchai Kittiwongsakul—AFP/Getty Images)

• High rice prices in Japan have led the agriculture ministry to allow disbursements from its million-ton rice reserve to help quell price increases. Officials are reassuring rice farmers that such disbursements won’t cause prices to tumble. 

Rice prices are skyrocketing so much in Japan that the government is set to dip into its reserves of the grain that serves as a daily staple for the vast majority of Japanese households.