TOKYO (AFP) — The Japanese government said Friday it will release its stockpile of rice — the nation’s cherished staple food — reserved for emergency use in response to soaring prices.

The government has tapped into its rice reserves in the past during emergencies such as major earthquakes, but this will be the first time to do so because of disruption to distribution.

The price of rice has continued to surge after it jumped last summer as a shortage triggered by extreme hot weather in 2023 sent demand into overdrive.

Japan has continued to confront soaring temperatures, registering the hottest year on record in 2024, as extreme heatwaves fuelled by climate change engulfed many parts of the globe.

Agriculture Minister Taku Eto told reporters the government will release 210,000 tons of rice from its one million tons of stockpile.

“We want to improve the situation of stagnant distribution at all costs,” he said.

The government had hoped the price would stabilize when newly harvested rice hit the shelves in the autumn, but the increase continued.

The latest average retail price of a five-kilogram bag was 3,688 yen ($24) according to a government survey in February, up from 2,023 yen last year.

In an unprecedented move, the agriculture ministry decided last month to allow the sale of the government’s stockpile of rice under a new rule.

Previously, stockpiled rice could be released only in the event of a serious crop failure or disaster, but a change in regulations allows a release when rice distribution is deemed stagnant.

The ministry has to buy back the same amount of rice from distributors within a year.

The government enacted a law to stockpile rice in 1995 after a major rice crop failure two years earlier sent shoppers scrambling to buy the staple.