[Bungeishunju Ltd.] Bungeishunju Shinsho “Reiwa’s Rice Riots: Why Did the Food Wars End?” will be released on October 17th! An urgent proposal from Nobuhiro Suzuki, author of the bestselling book “Food Wars” and a leading expert on food security.
Bungeishunju Ltd. Press Release: October 17, 2025 Bunshun Shinsho’s new book “Reiwa Rice Riots: Why Did the Food Defeat Occur?” will be released on October 17th! An urgent proposal from Nobuhiro Suzuki, author of the bestselling book “Food Wars” and a leading expert on food security. To Protect Japan’s Rice and Its Citizens Bungeishunju Ltd. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Shigeyuki Iikubo) will publish “Reiwa’s Rice Riots: Why Did Food Defeat Occur?” (Bunshun Shinsho), a new book by leading food security expert Nobuhiro Suzuki, on Friday, October 17th. Why did the “Reiwa rice riots” occur? The cause is not a problem with
distribution, such as agricultural cooperatives, but rather the limitations of the long-standing rice production reduction policy and supply shortages caused by the exhaustion of farmers, in other words, the failure of agricultural policy. What can be done to protect rice, the staple food of the Japanese people? This book outlines the structure of the problem and provides a prescription.
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Introduction The “Reiwa rice riots” have emerged as a major political issue, with rice disappearing from supermarkets and record-high retail prices. While the situation appeared to have temporarily calmed down with the release of government rice stockpiles and increased imports, it has become clear that the rice supply to the market is becoming structurally insufficient. Poor rice harvests due to global warming are one factor, but more deeply rooted structural factors include the limitations of long-standing production adjustment policies, the exhaustion of farmers due to low rice prices, and the failure of agricultural policy to take proactive measures to address the aging population. In the past few years, Japan has experienced a pandemic, frequent wars, and even agreed to increased rice imports during tariff negotiations with the United States. Will Japan’s boast of a 100% rice self-sufficiency rate become a thing of the past, and will Japan’s food security finally collapse completely? Repeated calls for “expansion, smart agriculture, and exports” will only deepen the crisis. Are there any concrete measures to truly save Japan’s agriculture and food industry? A structural analysis and urgent proposals for the future from the leading author of the best-selling book “Food Wars”! Comment from author Nobuhiro Suzuki This book is a successor to “The Food Wars,” which has been described as a “prophetic book.” 12 years have passed since the book was first published, and it aims to resolve the food crisis, which has worsened to the point that it could even be called a “food defeat.” The important thing is not to focus on trivial details, nor to misinterpret events to create a narrative for attack, nor to curry favor with the government. Rather, it is to face the underlying fundamental issues head-on and urgently work to resolve them. This is the path to protecting Japan’s rural communities and the food supply of its citizens. I hope that consumers will use this book as a starting point and join me in this discussion. Profile Graduated from the Department of Agricultural Economics, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tokyo, in 1982 and joined the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries that same year. He worked there for about 15 years, mainly in charge of trade issues and international negotiations, before retiring. In 1998, he became an associate professor at the Faculty of Agriculture and a professor at the Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyushu University. In September 2006, he became a professor at the Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Tokyo (Department of International Agricultural Science). He will serve as a specially appointed professor there from 2024. He has written many books, including “The Food War: Japan Falls into the US Trap” (Bunshun Shinsho), “The Disappearance of Agriculture: A Crisis of National Survival Caused by Agricultural Policy Failure” (Heibonsha Shinsho), “Prescriptions for Poverty Alleviation: Rethinking Development Economics” (Tsukuba Shobo Booklet), “Cooperatives and the Agricultural Economy: An Economic Theory of Symbiotic Systems” (University of Tokyo Press), “Japan Will Be the First in the World to Starve: How to Protect Food Security” (Kodansha α Shinsho), and “If We Continue Like This, We’ll Starve!: The Noda Model, a Prescription for the Food Crisis, Will Save Japan” (Nikkan Gendai).
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/43732/793/43732-793-c37ba94bed851cc1c4ed35324ea0d497-508×673.jpg Bibliographic Information Book Title: “Reiwa’s Rice Riots: Why Did the Food Wars End?” ” Author: Nobuhiro Suzuki Format: Shinsho format Regular price: 990 yen (tax included) Release date: October 17, 2025 ISBN: 978-4-16-661509-4 Bibliography URL:
https://books.bunshun.jp/ud/book/num/9784166615094 For more
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