Nitori, under fire on the Internet for allegedly “exporting rice” to China… “Surprising Answer” Returned

A clipped video circulated on X and went up in flames.

Nitori is collecting rice from Hokkaido and exporting it to China via Nitori’s container ship.

While many Japanese citizens are suffering from the rising price of rice, this video, which is likely to cause a ripple effect, is spreading around X.

It is said that “Nitori,” a major furniture retailer, is selling valuable Japanese rice to China.

This is based on a report in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nihon Keizai Shimbun), in which a doctor talks with a security analyst on his YouTube channel, claiming that rice from Hokkaido is being collected and exported to China from the port of Otaru,

He said, “Rice from Japan has to be eaten by the Japanese people first. By exporting this rice to China, the price of rice goes up, and since there is a shortage, we are forced to eat old rice called “stockpiled rice. Isn’t this crazy?”

He claims that the Japanese are the first to eat this rice.

The post itself was made on February 28, but the video clipping was spread on X by May 5, causing a firestorm.

In response to this post, the following comments were made on X

Nitori is unforgivable!

Nitori is a traitorous company.

I won’t buy Nitori products anymore!

I won’t buy any more Nitori products,” and so on.

Nitori told the “truth” in direct response.

The average price of rice in supermarkets announced on the 7th of this month was 4,233 yen per 5 kg, up 12 yen from the previous week, marking the 17th consecutive week of price increases and a record high. Compared to the same period last year, this is about double the level. Although stockpiled rice has been released, distribution has been noticeably delayed, with only about 2% of the rice reaching supermarkets and other retail outlets. It is still not possible to buy rice at low prices.

Experts predict that this year’s new rice will also be priced high. It is unclear whether the amount of rice Nitori is exporting will lower domestic rice prices, but it must be an emotional argument to this point. The Japanese people are feeling that “even a little bit of rice should be given to the Japanese people.

A check of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, the source of the video, reveals that it is indeed dated November 8, 2009, and that the following article was published in the November 8, 2009 edition of the newspaper

Nitori to export Hokkaido rice “Nanatsuboshi” to the Chinese market.

The article, “Nitori to Export Hokkaido Rice ‘Nanatsuboshi’ to China,” is dated November 8, 2009.

The article states that Nitori Holdings (HD) and Hokuren Agricultural Cooperative Union (Sapporo City) will export a little less than 60 tons of “Nanatsuboshi” rice produced in Hokkaido to China from Otaru Port by the end of this year, using empty containers as a first step.

This is an article from about four years ago, but with prices soaring due to this rice shortage, are they really still exporting to China today? We asked Nitori, “Do you still export rice to China, including “Nanatsuboshi” rice produced in Hokkaido?” I asked Nitori,

As you mentioned, it is true that we exported rice jointly with the Hokuren Federation of Agricultural Cooperatives (in January 2022), but since then we have not exported any rice to China.

Nitori replied, “We have no record of exporting rice since then.

Many staff members within Nitori are upset by the fact that there is a discrepancy between the content and the facts of the recent firestorm. Since this is a time when the public is sensitive to the price of rice, the past information about exporting to China must have spread more widely than we had imagined.

There is no doubt that the people are suffering from high prices. This is one of those cases where the slightest thing can cause a firestorm and even a boycott, and one senses the horror of a world in which such things can happen.