Govt-Stockpiled Rice Sells Out Immediately on Rakuten

   Tokyo, May 29 (Jiji Press)--Japanese retailers including e-commerce giant Rakuten Group Inc. on Thursday began selling government-stockpiled rice that they procured under no-bid contracts.
   Rakuten began selling the rice at 2,138 yen per 5-kilogram bag, tax included, on its directly run online shops from around noon, and it immediately sold out. "We will sell (rice) again as soon as we have additional stock," a company official said.
   The Iris Ohyama Inc. group began accepting pre-orders form around 1 p.m. Monday, but stopped accepting orders in about 45 minutes due to a flood of orders. It plans to sell the rice for 2,160 yen per 5-kilogram bag at stores from Monday.
   Meanwhile, some companies failed to win contracts for stockpiled rice with the government. Major convenience store chains FamilyMart Co., Seven-Eleven Japan Co. and Lawson Inc. were not included in the agriculture ministry's list of firms that have finalized their applications for the rice.
   FamilyMart plans to apply again for stockpiled rice, next time for rice harvested in 2021 instead of 2022.

(2025/05/29-20:33)