Battle Over Japan Rice Import Ban

Businessman Taishi Sato hopes to dispel the long-held notion here that foreign rice does not taste as good as the Japanese variety, and eventually he would like to open a chain of retail outlets selling what he calls “cheap and delicious California rice.”

Foreign-grown rice is much cheaper than the home-grown variety, says Sato, a 33-year-old former amateur boxer, and he is challenging a decades-old law prohibiting anyone except the government from importing rice, a staple of the Japanese diet. And the government isn’t importing any.

The government buys rice from Japanese farmers at the highly subsidized price of $121 for a 132-pound bag and sells it to consumers for about $1.50 a pound. Japan’s price is about 10 times the world price, and Sato said that, even with shipping costs, U.S. rice would be cheaper for Japanese consumers.

But it does not seem likely that they will be able to enjoy it any time soon. California Gov. George Deukmejian, here on a trade mission not long ago, was told in no uncertain terms by Japanese officials that there are no plans to lift the ban on foreign rice.

Consumer Activist

The Japanese traditionally have worried about the possibility that war or trade conflict could block the arrival here of vital supplies and they have strived to become self-sufficient--at least in regard to food. Hence the subsidies to Japanese rice farmers to ensure continued domestic production.

Sato is founder and president of Lion Petroleum Co., a small independent gasoline retail chain he built from a single bankrupt station. He became known as a consumer activist in 1985, when he made three unsuccessful tries to import gasoline in defiance of a government ban.

Although Sato calls himself a “friend of the consumer,” he says his motive is purely economic. “I’m in this for the business,” he said in a telephone interview.

Sato discovered that Japan’s law against rice imports, dating from 1943, was modified during the food-short postwar period to allow individuals to bring in up to 220 pounds of rice as samples or for experiments.

Sato said he bought 4,400 pounds of rice from a Los Angeles supermarket in December. He and four colleagues then flew back to Japan, each carrying 220 pounds of rice stuffed into suitcases.

Death Threats

An additional 1,100 pounds sent to friends in small packages also cleared customs, but the rest was seized by officials, Sato said, and he is still fighting to get it back.

Sato appears to have annoyed rice growers, who are part of a centuries-old tradition in Japan. Bara Hayashi, a writer for a magazine published by Sato’s company, said that there have been several angry phone calls and even death threats against Sato.

But consumer reaction to Sato’s activities has been favorable, Hayashi said.

“We’ve received between 20 to 30 calls and letters from consumers since coming back from the States. They ask where they can buy California rice, but we have to tell them that you cannot buy it in Japan,” he said.

Japan’s rice policy has gotten a lot of attention since the U.S. Rice Millers Assn. filed a petition in October demanding retaliatory measures against Japan if it continues to block U.S. rice imports.

U.S. Trade Representative Clayton K. Yeutter rejected the petition but said that he would reopen the issue if Japan refuses to negotiate its rice program under auspices of the Geneva-based General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade by the middle of 1987.

Japan’s ruling Liberal Democrats, who draw extensive support from the conservative farm areas, have vowed to continue protecting rice farmers from imports, contending that self-sufficiency in rice production is essential.

On Jan. 5, however, Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, apparently in response to mounting domestic and foreign criticism of its rice policy, announced a plan to cut rice prices in half within a decade and to gradually phase out government control.

Such action, if it actually takes place, could open the way for entrepreneurs like Sato to import rice through official channels and sell it at competitive prices.

Sato admits he has been a little nervous since launching his campaign against inflated rice prices. “It has not been easy,” he said, “but somebody’s got to do something or Japan will never change.”