Japanese Rice - Trading

Trading

The Dojima Rice Market in Osaka was the first known futures market, with trading in rice contracts established sometime around 1730. This market ceased with economic controls in 1939. In 2005, the Tokyo Grain Exchange announced that it would create a futures contract on rice with trading starting in the summer of 2006. However, the trading of these futures contracts has been postponed to an unspecified date since it has not been approved by the Japanese government.

The Tokyo Grain Exchange was founded in 1952 in the same location as the Kakigaracho Rice Trading Exchange, established in 1874. As of 2005, two varieties of Japanese rice were in consideration for standardization of the contract.

In order to fulfill self-sufficiency goals in Japan and to support domestic rice producers, the Japanese government enforces quotas and high tariffs on foreign rice. As a result, most rice consumed in Japan is domestically produced. However, price increases in recent years have led a small but increasing number of Japanese consumers and restaurants to seek out the small amount of less-expensive rice imported from China, Australia, and the United States that is available in Japan.