Japanese government officials believe that a massive increase in tourism may be one of the reasons for the country’s decreasing rice stockpile. ⁠ ⁠ Rice inventories in the private sector fell to 1.56 million tons in June, the lowest level since Japan began gathering data in 1999 and 20% lower than the 1.97 million tons recorded in June 2023. ⁠ ⁠ Over 3 million tourists visited Japan in March, a 69.5% increase compared to the same period the previous year. Despite the declining rice stockpile, farm ministry official Hiroshi Itakura told Agence France-Presse that “we are not in a situation of facing shortages of rice.”⁠ ⁠ ⁠ 🤳Click our linkinbio to sign up to our daily newsletter.⁠ ⁠ 📰Follow us for the latest Asian News NextShark⁠ ⁠ ⁠ ⁠ ⁠ #news #japan #tourism #rice #riceshortage