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South Korean authorities said Monday that DeepSeek would not be available from local app stores pending a review of the Chinese AI startup’s handling of user data.DeepSeek’s R1 chatbot stunned investors and industry insiders with its ability to match the functions of its Western competitors at a fraction of the cost.But a number of countries have questioned DeepSeek’s storage of user data, which the firm says is collected in “secure servers located in the People’s Republic of China”.On Monday, Choi Jang-hyuk, vice chairperson of Seoul’s Personal Information Protection Commission, told a press conference that DeepSeek had been removed from local app stores while authorities “thoroughly examine” its personal data processing practices “to ensure compliance” with local laws.In a press release, the data protection agency said DeepSeek had “acknowledged that considerations for domestic privacy laws were somewhat lacking”.The agency assessed that bringing the app into line with local privacy laws “would inevitably take a significant amount of time”, it added.”To prevent further concerns from spreading, the commission recommended that DeepSeek temporarily suspend its service while making the necessary improvements,” it said, adding that DeepSeek “accepted” that proposal.- ‘Use with caution’ -The app was removed from local app stores on Saturday at 6:00 pm (0900 GMT).And DeepSeek was unavailable on the South Korean version of Apple’s app store on Monday.But it was still available to users who had already downloaded the app.Seoul’s data protection agency said it “strongly advised” them to “use the service with caution until the final results are announced”.That included, it said, “refraining from entering personal information into the DeepSeek input field”.This month, a slew of South Korean government ministries and police said they blocked access to DeepSeek on their computers.Italy has also launched an investigation into DeepSeek’s R1 model and blocked it from processing Italian users’ data.Australia has banned DeepSeek from all government devices on the advice of security agencies.US lawmakers have also proposed a bill to ban DeepSeek from being used on government devices over concerns about user data security.In response to the bans, the Chinese government has said it opposes the “politicisation of economic, trade and technological issues”.It also insists it “has never and will never require enterprises or individuals to illegally collect or store data”.

Japan’s economic growth slowed sharply last year, official data showed Monday, although the rate for the fourth quarter topped expectations.The figures come as Japanese companies fret over the impact of US President Donald Trump’s protectionist trade policies, including import tariffs, on the world’s fourth largest economy.Gross domestic product expanded 0.1 percent in 2024, well down from 1.5 percent the year before, the data showed.But the figures for October-December were brighter.Quarter-on-quarter growth accelerated to 0.7 percent, from 0.4 percent in July-September, when a “megaquake” alert and one of the fiercest typhoons in decades dampened activity.The fourth-quarter figure was also more than double market expectations of 0.3 percent growth.”On the surface, Japanese GDP growth in the final stretch of 2024 looks like a turning point,” said Stefan Angrick of Moody’s Analytics.”But don’t break out the champagne just yet. Japan’s preliminary GDP figures are notoriously choppy, and sizeable revisions are common,” he warned.”The upbeat headline figure masks a domestic economy still stuck in the mud. Consumption is weak as pay gains have trailed inflation for the better part of three years,” Angrick said.”And given the worsening outlook for global trade, Japan won’t be able to count on exports to pick up the slack in 2025.”Trump said last week that he planned to unveil tariffs on imported cars from around April 2, adding to a cascade of levies he has threatened since taking office.Ahead of the latest GDP data, the Daiwa Institute of Research said “various growth factors are seen, including normalisation of production for motor vehicles”.”A strong appetite for capex spending on the part of corporations, and a comeback for inbound consumption” were also positive factors, the institute said in a report.This time last year, Germany overtook Japan as the world’s third-biggest economy, with India projected to leapfrog both later this decade.The change in positions primarily reflected the sharp fall in the yen against the dollar, analysts said at the time.In January, the Bank of Japan raised interest rates again — having done so in March for the first time in 17 years — and signalled more hikes to come.The move, which left borrowing costs at the highest since 2008, was also underpinned by “steadily” rising wages and financial markets being “stable on the whole”, the bank said.Even as other central banks raised borrowing costs in recent years the BoJ had remained an outlier.But it finally lifted rates above zero in March, signalling a move away from policies designed to counter Japan’s “lost decades” of economic stagnation and static or falling prices.Capital Economics said in a note on Monday that “even though the jump in Q4 GDP wasn’t broad-based, it supports our view that the Bank of Japan will tighten policy more aggressively this year than most anticipate”.

Asian markets mostly rose Monday as investors assessed the global economic outlook while Donald Trump pushes ahead with his trade war.Trading floors have been hit by uncertainty since the US president returned to the Oval Office last month announcing a series of tariffs against key trading partners.While some of the measures have been delayed for negotiations, observers warn the imposition of huge levies on exports to the world’s biggest economy could deal a hefty blow to financial markets.”Traders have been stuck in a game of ‘will he or won’t he’ on sweeping tariffs, with geopolitical allies and rivals alike in the crosshairs,” said Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management. “The stock market’s initial reaction was caution, but as delays, carve-outs, and sabre-rattling mix into an increasingly muddled policy picture, the mood is shifting from calculated hedging to outright confusion.”He added that “tariffs remain one of the biggest risk factors for financial markets”.”For now, the only certainty is uncertainty.”After a tepid lead from Wall Street, equities in Asia mostly moved into positive territory.Hong Kong extended last week’s rally fuelled by a surge in tech firms following the release of Chinese startup DeepSeek’s chatbot.The mood in the city was given an extra boost Friday by reports that Chinese President Xi Jinping was poised to meet Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma and other top entrepreneurs this week.The news fuelled hopes of fresh support for the private sector, which has been hit by a series of crackdowns by the government in the past few years, hammering share prices.Shanghai, Seoul, Singapore, Taipei, Jakarta and Wellington also rose, though Sydney and Manila slipped.Tokyo barely moved as data showed the Japanese economy slowed sharply last year, but enjoyed a forecast-topping quarter thanks to strong exports.Investors are also keeping tabs on developments over the Ukraine war after Trump said Sunday he could meet Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin “very soon”, adding he believed he genuinely wanted to stop the fighting. The prospect of an end to hostilities has weighed on oil prices, with the commodity extending losses Monday.- Key figures around 0230 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: FLAT at 39,164.87 (break)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 0.6 percent at 22,754.79Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.2 percent at 3,340.54Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0500 from $1.0495 on FridayPound/dollar: UP at $1.2594 from $1.2587Dollar/yen: DOWN at 151.81 from 152.25 yenEuro/pound: UP at 83.38 pence from 83.36 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.3 percent at $70.50 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.2 percent at $74.56 per barrelNew York – Dow: DOWN 0.4 percent at 44,546.08 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.4 percent at 8,732.46 (close)

Chinese fans of blockbuster film “Ne Zha 2” packed into cinemas in Beijing on Sunday, snapping selfies and queueing up for movie posters and other merchandise.The animated film, now China’s highest-grossing movie of all time, was released overseas last week, sparking hopes among locals that it would gain the same acclaim abroad.The movie has broken multiple box office records and is the first to earn more than $1 billion in a single market — overtaking “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” which made $936 million in the United States in 2015.”Ne Zha 2″ hit the big screen in Australia and New Zealand on Thursday, one day ahead of its release in the United States and Canada.At a cinema in Sanlitun, one of Beijing’s most popular commercial districts, fan Zhou Jingwen told AFP she was about to see the film for the third time.”I think it’s different from traditional American animated films,” the 29-year-old said, adding that she felt it would be well-received abroad and was “rich with Chinese mythological background”.A sequel five years in the making, the fantasy-comedy, loosely based on the 16th-century novel “Investiture of the Gods”, tells the tale of a rebellious young deity Ne Zha who uses his powers to battle formidable foes after his village is destroyed.Released domestically on January 29 to coincide with the Lunar New Year holiday, a prime movie-going time in China, the movie has reignited the country’s film industry after 2024 saw box office receipts slump 23 percent compared to a year earlier.Fan Zhang Kaihan said he was seeing “Ne Zha 2” for the first time, and was looking forward to the sequel featuring even more exciting action scenes than the first movie.The original “Ne Zha” became China’s highest grossing animated film after it was released in 2019. According to Zhang, moviegoers abroad could gain a better understanding of Chinese culture after seeing the costumes and scenery portrayed in the new film. “I’m confident that overseas audiences will also love this movie,” he added. Also at the cinema, mother Wen Juan was accompanied by her two sons, aged four and 12, intentionally dressed in red and yellow — the same colours Ne Zha wears in the film — along with her husband and parents. She praised the movie for reflecting “a more modern understanding of parent-child relationships”.The film depicts Ne Zha’s parents as supportive and encouraging, departing from the strict Asian family stereotype.”It inherits elements from tradition but also adapts them, which I find really well done,” Wen added.

With Coldplay and Ed Sheeran among the superstars who have played to packed-out crowds in India recently, there is increasing talk that the world’s most populous nation could soon become a mainstay of the global touring schedule.However, a lack of world-class venues to host big-name events has left fans wanting, with complaints ranging from filthy conditions, poor security and technical problems among the issues causing headaches for organisers.Booming demand from young affluent Indians looking to splurge on new entertainment experiences are drawing international acts as well as hugely popular homegrown stars.Big-name stars have in the past overlooked the country, given the historically low spending power of its consumers.But while per capita income remains low at $2,500, investment bankers Goldman Sachs estimate that the number of Indians with annual earnings of more than $10,000 has jumped from 24 million in 2015 to 60 million in 2023.That has helped attract the sort of talent unthought of just a decade ago, with Dua Lipa playing to packed crowds last year and US chart-toppers Maroon 5 playing their first gig in the country.Robin Hood crooner Bryan Adams played a number of sold-out venues across country in 2024, while other artists like Green Day and Shawn Mendes will perform later this year.”A decade ago, India was not on their radar,” said Deepak Choudhary, event management entrepeneur and founder of EVA Live.”It’s a hungry audience sitting across the country,” he said, adding that he believes India’s music event industry is on track to catch up with markets such as Britain, Japan or Germany within three to five years.”You give them good content and they are happy to explore.”The number of live events in India rose almost a fifth last year, according to the country’s largest ticketing platform BookMyShow, which called music tourism a “defining trend”.- ‘Biggest-ever show’ -Coldplay last month performed what the band called its “biggest-ever show”, at a huge cricket stadium named after Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Ahmedabad.Their tour prompted a wild scramble for tickets, which were priced from around $30-$420.”As soon as they announced the concert dates, I booked my flight ticket, I booked my stay because I wanted to get there first,” said Monica Sawant, 36, who travelled fromBengaluru to see them in Mumbai.But demand was so high she was forced to purchase from ticket touts.”I caved in… I thought I would not make it,” she explained, paying $125 for a $55 ticket.After the Coldplay show, Modi praised what he dubbed the “concert economy”, saying “India has a massive scope for live concerts”.However, not all cities have the infrastructure needed to host massive live events, with BookMyShow’s CEO Ashish Hemrajani likening the experience economy boom in an interview to “starting an airline but not having an airport”. Fans complain that makeshift venues can have poor sanitation, non-existent crowd-control measures and terrible traffic to reach the venue with little parking space.”It was awful,” said Ruchi Shukla, 27, describing her experience at a show last year in Gurgaon, a satellite city of New Delhi.”You had to fight to get into the venue, fight to get out, and even during the concert you had to fight to hear the singer.”Other performers ranging from Punjabi singer Diljit Dosanjh to South African comedian Trevor Noah have publicly complained about Indian venuesNoah in 2023 performed to sellout crowds in New Delhi and Mumbai, but scrapped shows in tech-capital Bengaluru as the audience could not hear him.In January, US band Cigarettes After Sex also cancelled a concert in Bengaluru owing to “technical difficulties” blamed on “local production”.- ‘Teething issues’ -Avid concert-goer Sheldon Aranjo grabbed public attention in December by writing a public post after wetting himself at a Bryan Adams show, saying there was a lack of toilets.”We are bringing international acts, we are paying on par with people abroad,” he told AFP. “Why can’t I expect an international quality event?”But organisers such as Tej Brar, who oversees one of India’s biggest music festivals, NH7, said they were “teething issues”.”These are just growing pains, as we come into our own as an industry,” Brar said.And EVA Live’s Choudhary was confident success will bring investment and help India “move past infrastructure challenges”.Economists at Bank of Baroda estimate the spate of shows could translate into annual spending of up to $918 million, as organisers pump money into local economies and consumers shell out on everything from hotels to flights.It is a bright spot in an otherwise sluggish economy.”We are opening a door for something that is new,” said Bank of Baroda economist Jahnavi Prabhakar.”This is a big boost, something like we’ve never seen before. It’s a big boom for us.”

Smoke billows from chimneys as factories churn in South Korea’s steelmaking heartland, now under threat from Washington’s swingeing new tariffs on the port city’s largest export.The city of Pohang on South Korea’s east coast for decades pumped out the steel that fuelled the country’s breakneck economic rise.South Korea was the fourth largest exporter of the metal to the United States last year, accounting for 13 percent of its total steel imports.But the industry has faced intense strain in recent years from foreign competition.And businesses, officials and workers in the city now fear a planned 25 percent tariff on all steel imports to the United States beginning next month could have devastating impacts — and major knock-on effects on South Korea’s economy.”The steel industry is a vital national industry that serves as a fundamental material for key sectors such as construction, automotive and shipbuilding,” Pohang’s mayor Lee Kang-deok told AFP.”If the steel industry collapses, the entire South Korean economy will be destabilised,” Lee warned. “If we fail to respond effectively to President Trump’s tariff measures, our country’s economy could face an even greater shock, leading to an irreversible situation.”- ‘Steel city’ -Lying around 270 kilometres (168 miles) southeast of Seoul, Pohang has carved out a rare place as a key industrial hub in a country beset by deepening regional inequality — and where most resources are tightly concentrated in the capital.It is home to the nation’s top steelmaker, POSCO, a major force in South Korea’s industrialisation and development as an export powerhouse, alongside giants like Hyundai Steel and Dongkuk Steel.”Pohang has long been a symbolic steel city that has supported South Korea for decades, serving as a backbone for the country’s development,” said Bang Sung-jun, a former Hyundai Steel worker and an official at the Korean Metal Workers’ Union’s Pohang branch.”The steel industry has provided quality jobs and sustained the local economy,” he told AFP, while acknowledging the pollution produced and the often dangerous conditions for workers in the industry.How those workers respond to the current crisis, he added, “will determine whether the city of Pohang can sustain its steel industry, putting its very survival at stake”.- ‘Significant’ impact -South Korea’s steel industry has faced intense pressure in recent years as it grapples with oversupply — particularly from China — and a decrease in global demand.The US tariffs are likely to intensify those challenges, and analysts warn that should cheap Chinese steel barred from the US market begin to flood regions like Southeast Asia and Europe, South Korean steel producers will face deepening price competition.”Trump’s protectionism certainly will affect South Korea’s long-suffering steel industry, already squeezed by low-price exports from China and unfavourable Japanese yen exchange rate,” Vladimir Tikhonov, professor of Korea studies at the University of Oslo, told AFP.”The impact will be significant,” he said.Some suggest the tariffs could offer opportunities for South Korean firms to find new export markets.But for workers in Pohang, where several mills have already shut down, job security and the threat of further layoffs overshadow any potential benefits.AFP reporters visited a factory owned by Hyundai Steel which closed late last year. It did not appear to be operating and was guarded by a handful of staff at the time of the visit.Journalists saw signs hung by unionised workers criticising the management and demanding an apology, and through an open door, what looked like debris piled up inside.”For us workers, it has always been a crisis without any opportunities,” said Bang, the unionist.Worker Lee Woo-man, who has worked as a subcontractor for POSCO for two decades, told AFP that 20 of his colleagues have lost their jobs in the past year.He expected employment in the city to “decrease even more” over the next four years and believes Trump’s tariffs will speed up the decline of the city, which he said has lost the vibrancy it had when he was young.Lee said he grew up watching the smoke rise from the chimneys of massive mills, thinking to himself: “POSCO is feeding Pohang”.But now that view makes him worry.”I don’t know when this will all fall apart.”

Stock markets diverged and the dollar dipped on Friday as traders tracked US President Donald Trump’s latest tariff announcement, economic data and earnings.Wall Street indices were mixed at the end of the session with the S&P 500 near flat.That came despite data showing that US retail sales fell by a more-than-expected 0.9 percent in January from December.Analysts pointed out that was due in part to the December figure being revised higher.The drop was due partly to bad weather that depressed demand, but the result could also show “a little consumer fatigue,” said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O’Hare.Investors largely shrugged at data earlier this week showing an increase in consumer price inflation and higher-than-expected wholesale price inflation.”The stock market continues to maintain this resilient disposition,” said O’Hare, who pointed to strong corporate earnings as an offset to concerns about tariffs and an uptick in inflation.But a rebound in inflation, or persistent inflation at a high level, would make it difficult for the Federal Reserve to cut rates further.Markets also continued to follow the latest trade developments.The European Union on Friday vowed to respond “firmly and immediately” to trade barriers after Trump unveiled tariffs that could hit US allies and competitors. Trump on Thursday said he had decided to impose reciprocal duties, in a dramatic escalation of an international trade war he has unleashed since taking office in January, but the measures will not go into effect until a study is completed. Despite rising trade tensions, investor sentiment has largely held up in the hope that many of the tariffs can be rowed back with negotiations, while Trump’s announcement of plans to hold Ukraine peace talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin has added some optimism.”Tariff ambiguity still reigns but markets are currently drawing some comfort from the news” of the delay, said National Australia Bank’s head of currencies research and markets, Ray Attrill.Hong Kong led the way among major stock markets on Friday, closing up more than three percent, as tech firms extended their recent surge on a Bloomberg report that China had invited Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma and other top entrepreneurs to meet Beijing’s top brass.That fueled hopes of fresh support for the private sector.Alibaba piled on 6.3 percent, while JD.com and Tencent each rose more than seven percent.European markets ended the day mixed.- Key figures around 2130 GMT -New York – Dow: DOWN 0.4 percent at 44,546.08 (close)New York – S&P 500: FLAT at 6,114.63 (close)New York – Nasdaq Composite: UP 0.4 percent at 20,026.77 (close)London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.4 percent at 8,732.46 (close)Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.2 percent at 8,178.54 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.4 percent at 22,513.42 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.8 percent at 39,149.43 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 3.7 percent at 22,620.33 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.4 percent at 3,346.72 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.0495 from $1.0465 on ThursdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.2587 from $1.2566Dollar/yen: DOWN at 152.25 from 152.80 yenEuro/pound: UP at 83.36 pence from 83.27 penceBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.4 percent at $74.74 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.8 percent at $70.74 per barrelburs-jmb/st

Stock markets diverged and the dollar dipped Friday as traders tracked US President Donald Trump’s latest tariff announcement, economic data and earnings.The European Union on Friday vowed to respond “firmly and immediately” to trade barriers after Trump unveiled tariffs that could hit allies and competitors. Trump on Thursday said he had decided to impose reciprocal duties, in a dramatic escalation of an international trade war he has unleashed since taking office in January. The president has unveiled a range of hardball measures to bring an end to what he says is years of countries taking advantage of the United States, fuelling trade war fears and leading to warnings of another inflation spike.However, investor sentiment has largely held up on hopes that many of the tariffs can be rowed back with negotiations, while Trump’s announcement of plans to hold Ukraine peace talks with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin has added some optimism.US commerce secretary nominee Howard Lutnick said studies on where and who to hit should be completed by April 1, and the tariffs could start the day after — providing some relief to investors.”Tariff ambiguity still reigns, but markets are currently drawing some comfort from the news” of the delay, said National Australia Bank’s head of currencies research and markets, Ray Attrill.Observers said there appeared to be a feeling on trading floors that the measures were being used as a negotiating tactic by the White House.Hong Kong led the way among major stock markets Friday, closing up more than three percent.Tech firms extended their recent surge on a Bloomberg report that China had invited Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma and other top entrepreneurs to meet Beijing’s top brass, fuelling hopes of fresh support for the private sector.Alibaba piled on 6.3 percent, while JD.com and Tencent each rose more than seven percent.Tokyo’s index dropped despite an 8.7-percent surge in Sony following a healthy earnings report as well as rallies in Nissan and Honda a day after they confirmed the scrapping of merger talks.Paris was slightly higher nearing the half-way stage, while Frankfurt and London slipped heading into the weekend break.French luxury giant Hermes reported record earnings for 2024 and confirmed an “ambitious” growth target for this year despite geopolitical and economic uncertainty.Official data meanwhile showed that the eurozone economy grew by 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter, a welcome revision after preliminary figures showed growth slowed to a halt.Wall Street closed higher Thursday thanks to a rally in the tech sector. The S&P 500 ended just short of a record and the Nasdaq put on more than two percent.New York traders were largely unmoved by a forecast-topping rise in US wholesale prices last month, which followed Wednesday’s hotter-than-expected consumer inflation data which dented hopes for another interest rate cut.- Key figures around 1100 GMT -London – FTSE 100: DOWN 0.3 percent at 8,738.33 pointsParis – CAC 40: UP 0.2 percent at 8,180.20Frankfurt – DAX: DOWN 0.4 percent at 22,531.56Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.8 percent at 39,149.43 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 3.7 percent at 22,620.33 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.4 percent at 3,346.72 (close)New York – Dow: UP 0.8 percent at 44,711.43 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0465 from $1.0467 on ThursdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2574 from $1.2586Dollar/yen: DOWN at 152.55 from 152.76 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 83.21 pence from 83.28 penceBrent North Sea Crude: UP 0.3 percent at $75.23 per barrelWest Texas Intermediate: UP 0.2 percent at $71.41 per barrel

Alibaba shares soared by more than six percent on Friday following reports that Chinese President Xi Jinping was poised to meet with the tech juggernaut’s co-founder Jack Ma.Alibaba, which has already surged more than 40 percent in 2025, piled on 6.3 percent after also being given an extra leg-up Thursday when its chairman said it would supply AI technology to power Apple’s iPhones in China.Since coming to power more than a decade ago, Xi has consistently sought to bolster the role of state enterprises in the world’s second-largest economy and warned against the “disorderly” expansion of private business.He oversaw a sweeping crackdown on the tech sector that in 2020 brought the shock cancellation of Alibaba affiliate Ant Group’s blockbuster IPO — notably after Ma made a speech criticising Chinese regulators.Ma has kept a low public profile since then, but Bloomberg News reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter, that Xi was preparing to meet him alongside other eminent entrepreneurs.The talks could take place as soon as next week and reportedly may include Liang Wenfeng, the founder of DeepSeek, the insurgent tech firm whose AI chatbot has caused a global stir in recent weeks.China’s commerce ministry did not immediately respond to a faxed AFP request for comment.Xi’s prospective meeting with business luminaries would send a strong signal of support for the private sector at a time when China’s economy is groaning under a protracted property crisis, persistently low consumption, and high local government debt.It would also hint at the rehabilitation of Ma, a former English teacher who founded Alibaba in 1999 and built it into one of China’s most recognisable and dominant private companies.But in the years since the scuttled Ant IPO, the magnate once known for his electrifying public persona has eschewed the limelight, ostensibly to focus on philanthropy and rural education.The stock rally adds to a promising week for Alibaba, whose chairman said Thursday that the company would supply artificial intelligence technology to power Apple’s iPhones in China.Joseph Tsai said at a summit in Dubai that regulatory issues meant Apple, which has lost its status as the smartphone market leader in China, “need to work with Chinese companies that develop AI”.

The Japanese government said Friday it will release a fifth of its emergency rice stockpile after hot weather, poor harvests and panic buying over a “megaquake” warning nearly doubled prices over a year.Japan has previously tapped into its reserves to cope with disasters, but this marked the first time since the stockpile was built in 1995 that it was doing so because of supply chain problems.Some supermarket shelves were emptied in August of rice following a week-long holiday, a series of typhoons and warnings of a looming major earthquake that has so far failed to materialise.The government had initially hoped prices would stabilise late last year once newly harvested rice arrived in stores, but inflation continued unabated, this time because some distributors were hoarding for fear of running out.Agriculture Minister Taku Eto told reporters on Friday the government will release 210,000 tonnes of rice from its stock of one million tonnes.”I hope you will take this as our strong determination to improve at all costs the situation where distribution has been delayed and stuck,” he said.Rice prices had already began to change consumption patterns for some like Tokyo resident Eriko Kato. “I still do buy rice occasionally, but since it’s so expensive I sometimes give up on buying it once I see the price,” Kato, 41, told AFP. A five-kilogramme (11-pound) bag was retailing at 3,688 yen ($24) in the last week of January, according to a government survey, up from 2,023 yen last year.- Cashing in on crisis -The law for the government to stockpile the grain was enacted in 1995 after a major rice crop failure two years earlier sent shoppers scrambling to buy the staple.Masayuki Ogawa, assistant professor at Utsunomiya University, told AFP that a series of factors had contributed to the current crisis.Among them is the tourism boom and shortage triggered by the extreme heat in 2023 — joint record hottest summer.The crisis was exacerbated by distributors that were believed to be hoarding in hopes of cashing in later, he said.”It’s suspected that some distributors are trying to make a profit, waiting for the price hike,” he explained.But he estimates the price increase could stop if these distributors are forced to release their rice after the government’s move.The reserve release is “a complicated operation,” as government intervention could impact the stability of rice production and producers’ earnings in the long term, he said.To prevent the distorting effect, the government is required to buy back the same amount of rice it released within a year.Rice consumption in Japan has more than halved in the past 60 years to about 50.9 kilogrammes (112 pounds) in 2022, but the grain remains deeply ingrained in Japanese culture and its harvesting has shaped the nation’s landscape — even being used in Shinto rituals.Tokyo resident Kato says she “sometimes just switches to noodles like udon or soba instead” because rice is more expensive. But “rice is food for our soul,” she said. “It is important.”