P. M. BRIEFING : Japanese Suggests Rice Import

TOKYO — A leading member of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party said Japan should partially open its rice market, Japan’s Kyodo News Agency reported today.

“Japan cannot avoid liberalization of its rice market. Japan’s rice can compete with foreign crops, like beef and cherries. We could allow (rice) imports of up to 5% of total domestic demand,” Toshio Yamaguchi was quoted as saying.

Yamaguchi, a member of the lower house of Parliament and a former Labor minister, was returning from lecturing to businessmen at the resort of Karuizawa outside Tokyo and was unavailable for comment today, a spokeswoman said.

Japan bans all commercial imports of rice and last year spent $2.2 billion to subsidize domestic production, much to the chagrin of low-cost rice exporters such as the United States.