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Men in their 20s earn an average annual salary of less than ¥3 million!!!!!!

That is less than $21,000 USD.

Japan's slide into 3rd world poverty is almost complete.

@BertieWooster

MAFF adds what is called a "mark-up" to grains that can only be imported through a MAFF tender. The "mark-up" is a tariff or tax that increases food costs to Japanese households.

When I saw the headline I thought it had to do with the rate of men killed at work and the shorter life expectancy of men or the much lower pay that male models make.

You too can donate to the "Freedom Flotilla Coalition" right on their website to ensure all those "volunteers" are well fed and can fly 1st class all the way home. For some reason neither a Board of Directors not financial statements are available for the public to see on their website. I'm sure it is just an oversight.

@N. Knight

That attack has zero (0) impact on the outcome of the war.

For some reason Ukraine spent a lot of resources on the Russian nuclear bomber airplanes which are not, and very highly unlikely, to be active in attacking Ukraine. Meanwhile they are losing significant area on the ground.

People can make up their own minds as to why the Ukraine did that and who benefits from it. Hint it isn't the Ukrainian soldiers dying on the front line.

Even when stored under ideal conditions, polished rice goes stale after 2 years, so he is correct.

@John-San

Your claims on exports are ridiculous. Where on earth do you get your information?

Live cattle futures in the US have reached record highs so your claim that beef will be given away or buried is misinformation. The US is actually a net importer of beef.

Nothing will be left to rot in the fields, exports will continue as usual. Both corn and Soybean futures are at the same range that they were 1 year ago. Farmers will have already locked in selling prices for much of this years crop.

@John-San

Firstly, the land is idle for long enough to grow a silage crop or forage pea and secondly, Japan is the largest importer of animal feed in the world which includes feed corn(largest importer in the world), feed barley, feed wheat, sorghum, canola and soy meal, and rice if it is cheap enough. And finally, silage is a very profitable crop.

One of the most profitable crops/hectare globally is Chinese gooseberries (kiwi) which is actually native to Japan. Time for Japanese farmers to chase dollars.

Japan has 4 times the area of arable land than the Netherlands but the Netherlands is second behind the US globally in agricultural exports. Liberating farmers in Japan presents a generational opportunity for Japan to become an agricultural exporter juggernaut.

@Agent_Neo

If the Japanese government "liberated" farmers they would start by innovating and doing things like growing a forage pea after harvesting rice or barley for silage to be sold to the cattle industry and follow that up with winter oil rapeseed before the next rice crop. Fields on flat flood plains would be consolidated into larger fields resulting in a dramatic increase in productivity, there is no reason on earth that that is not being done now. Farmers would trash their 20th century hoop greenhouses and build 21st century ridge and furrow or venlo greenhouses and automate everything including harvest in those structures.

Young farmers and entrepreneurs seize the day and buy productive land from the old geezers at market prices and be able to expand their businesses and be very profitable. Part-time farmers with full time jobs would be forced out of business.

@garypen

The cancelled battery plant was to make batteries for EV's not hybrids.

Consumers have spoken, they want hybrid vehicles not electric.

1) Is JA still untouchable? It operates as a monopoly and needs to be smashed.

2) Is the "mark-up" or tariff that MAFF applies to imported wheat a "sacred cow?" Change the laws so that wheat imports do not have to be done through the MAFF single-desk tenders; allow wheat importers and millers contract their own deliveries.

3) Is the unscientific ban on GMO crops a "sacred cow?" Join the 21st century and allow access to GMO technology. The C4 rice project will result in varieties that benefit Japanese farmers and consumers. GMOs will reduce the dependency on fertilizers and pesticides.

4) Are subsidies a "sacred cow?" They need to go.

5) Is land reform going to happen? Massive consolidation is desperate needed but is extremely hampered by Byzantine rules and laws. Small part time farmers in Japan has resulted in a wasteful nitrogen surplus in agricultural land soils.

@Jimizo

Central planning in China brought starvation, death and poverty. They certainly don't have political or social freedom but the mostly free market has made them rich and allowed 10's of millions of people to escape poverty.

Bad example.

@Jimizo

The supply of rice works the same way that the supply of widgets works. Central planning always fails.

@Jimizo

Yes, I am sure. Central planning only works for very short periods of time such as during a war when the government can direct resources to maximize needed production but even that is in response to demand.

Central planning cannot respond to supply/demand and always fails. Witness the short supply of highly demanded rice in Japan.

@Hervé L'Eisa

Sometimes I think the majority of posters here skipped basic economics and the history of failed central planning everywhere.

The more government involvement in the free market decisions on producers the worse the outcome.

The only solution is for the government to get complexly out of primary agri-food production. Some farmers will certainly fail, but more will succeed and prosper.

1st child assumes she will have another. Headline should just read "gives birth."

@ClippetyClop

US wheat futures, today, are trading in the same range that they were 5 years ago and WTI is $60/barrel - both cheap.

The ingredients for food and energy are really cheap right now.

Russia presents an incredible trade opportunity for Japan. US tariffs on Japanese autos could drive manufacturing into a deep decline in Japan. 100% of auto exports from Japan to the US can be replaced by auto exports to Russia, a great source of natural resources and critical minerals for Japan.

Ukraine is of not significance to Japan. Japan must act in its own best interest and not what it is told to do by Washington.

I believe that this visit was a message to Washington.

The "war in Ukraine" has nothing to do with inflation in Tokyo. What does that have to do with the price of tea in Chiba?

Collective punishment against international students is wrong and collective punishment is routinely practised in Japan against students. People in Japan complaining are throwing stones at their own glass house.

Did he apologize for England forcing my ancestors off of the Scottish Highlands? No? Canada needs to become free and democratic by separating from these English kings.

@albaleo

There are no checks and balances in Canadian democracy. The ruling party appoints the Governor General, members of the Senate and the Judiciary. All political power rests in the hands of 1 person which is exactly how Canada got saddled with 10 years of unchecked disaster from Justin Trudeau.

@Bob Fosse

The spurious claim of all dictators.

@Bob Fosse

A modern democracy should elect its head of state, period.

King of the who? I didn't vote for him.

It is long past time for Canada to do away with farcical kings and elect its head of state like a real country.

The previous Trudeau government acted unconstitutionally with repercussions because Canada does not have either an elected head of state nor an elected senate. Where was Chuck when citizens of Canada had their rights trampled on by Trudeau?

Floods are normal in Australia.

The water from the heavy rains in March in Queensland from as far away as near Townsville is slowly making its way through usually dry riverbeds and floodplains towards the Ayre Lake in South Australia. The drainage basin covers around 17% of the continent. In some places the water is 70 km wide in Channel Country. The dry, desolate desert is springing to life with flora and fauna that have been waiting for 15 years for a good flood. The lake might even fill which is something that only happens a few times a century. Of course, none of this is related to climate change.

The "ocean of water" that is slowly making its way across Australia does cause heavy rains downwind in New South Wales because of the incredible amount of water entering the atmosphere through normal evaporation.