Joint Study Session by Six Consumer Cooperatives to Consider Paddy Field Policy and Rice Price Issues – Event on Saturday, April 11

Seikatsu Club Consumers' Cooperative Union (Headquarters: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo; Chairman: Shoichi Murakami; hereinafter referred to as Seikatsu Club), along with Pal System Consumers' Cooperative Union, Tohto Consumers' Cooperative Union, Coop Shizenha Union, Orange Coop Union, and iChoice Consumers' Cooperative Union, will jointly hold the "Joint Study Session by Six Consumer Cooperatives to Consider Paddy Field Policy and Rice Price Issues" on Saturday, April 11, 2026 (with online participation also available).

Six consumer cooperatives, including Seikatsu Club, have been connecting production and consumption through direct transactions. Now, the rice production landscape is in turmoil. Declining production and consumption, continuously rising rice prices, and the difficulty of maintaining paddy fields... These are not just problems for producers, nor just for consumers. We will hold a joint study session with the six cooperatives to confront these issues head-on.

With the "Rice Riot of Reiwa" still fresh in memory, and the future of Japan's rice situation uncertain, we encourage you to hear the real stories about rice and the realities of paddy fields that consumers should know.

"Joint Study Session by Six Consumer Cooperatives to Consider Paddy Field Policy and Rice Price Issues" Event Overview

Date & Time: Saturday, April 11, 2026, 13:00 – 17:00

Online participation only for the general public. URL will be sent to applicants.

Venue: TKP Garden City PREMIUM Shinagawa HEART, 8th Floor, Hall 8B

Nearest Station: 5-minute walk from JR Shinagawa Station / Konan Exit

Format: Hybrid Event (【Members】In-person attendance + 【General Public】Zoom Webinar)

Program: ・Keynote Speech "Problems with Rice Reduction Policy Leading to Rice Riots and the Necessity of Direct Payments (Tentative Title)"

Takumi Sakuyama, Professor, Faculty of Agriculture, Meiji University

・Lecture "Rice Policy Considerations Starting from 2027"

Gen Kunieda, Director, Agricultural Production Bureau Planning Division, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

・Reports from the Production Sites

Yutaka Akiyama, Representative Director and Chairman, Hitachino Agricultural Cooperative

Osamu Konno, Chairman, JA Shonai Midori / Yuzacho Joint Development Rice Division

Eisaku Kisu, Representative Director and President, Ferma Kisu Co., Ltd.

・Q&A Session

・Reports from Members and Consumers

Representative members from each of the six cooperatives

Distinguished Guests & Participants: Local stakeholders, 20 representative members from Seikatsu Club

【Participation Application】

Due to venue capacity, in-person attendance is limited to applicants through each cooperative's contact points and media representatives. For online (ZOOM Webinar) participation, please apply through the "Online Participation Registration Application Form" displayed via the URL below or by scanning the QR code. (Application deadline: Wednesday, April 8th)

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1rFl0I14uGDznm_0As_ecc1s9nWUBLPQKCOUxlvTePJI/viewform?edit_requested=true

【Co-organized by】

Seikatsu Club Consumers' Cooperative Union

Pal System Consumers' Cooperative Union

Tohto Consumers' Cooperative Union

Coop Shizenha Union, Orange Coop Union

iChoice Consumers' Cooperative Union

Green Coop Consumers' Cooperative Union

【Outline of Co-organizing Organizations】 (As of the end of March 2025)

●Seikatsu Club Consumers' Cooperative Union

Location: 6-24-20 Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo

Chairman: Shoichi Murakami

Group Total Business Revenue: 100.3 billion yen

Total Members: 420,000

Operating Areas: 21 prefectures (Hokkaido, Aomori, Iwate, Yamagata, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Yamanashi, Nagano, Shizuoka, Aichi, Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, Nara)

HP: https://seikatsuclub.coop/

●Pal System Consumers' Cooperative Union

Location: 2-2-6 Okubo, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo

Director General: Atsushi Shibusawa

Group Total Business Revenue: 260.42 billion yen

Total Members: 1.762 million

Operating Areas: 13 prefectures (Miyagi, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba, Tokyo, Kanagawa, Niigata, Yamanashi, Nagano, Shizuoka)

HP: https://www.pal.or.jp

●Tohto Consumers' Cooperative Union

Location: 6F, 1-7-5 Sekido, Tama-shi, Tokyo

Director General: Yoshiji Kazama

Total Business Revenue: 33.65 billion yen

Total Members: 262,000

Operating Areas: 4 prefectures (Tokyo, parts of Saitama, Chiba, and Kanagawa)

HP: https://www.tohto-coop.or.jp

●Coop Shizenha Union, Orange Coop Union

Location: 3-8-5 Mitsugaoka, Nishi-ku, Kobe-shi, Hyogo Prefecture

Chairperson: Chikako Tatsumi

Group Total Business Revenue: 28.8 billion yen

Total Members: 220,000

Operating Areas: 10 prefectures (Shiga, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyogo, Nara, Wakayama, Tokushima, Kagawa, Ehime, Kochi)

HP: https://www.shizenha.net/

●iChoice Consumers' Cooperative Union

Location: 1-14 Yakushido-dori, Minami-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi Prefecture

Director General: Takahiro Omiya

Group Total Business Revenue: 17.38 billion yen

Total Members: 153,000

Operating Areas: 4 prefectures (Aichi, Gifu, Shizuoka, Mie)

HP: https://ichoice-coop.com

●Green Coop Consumers' Cooperative Union

Location: 1-5-11 Hakata-ekimae, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka-shi, Fukuoka Prefecture

Representative Director: Yoko Hidaka

Group Total Business Revenue: 63.87 billion yen

Total Members: 432,000

Operating Areas: 16 prefectures (Fukushima, Shiga, Osaka, Hyogo, Tottori, Shimane, Okayama, Hiroshima, Yamaguchi, Fukuoka, Saga, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Oita, Miyazaki, Kagoshima)

HP: https://www.greencoop.or.jp