View source for Rice riots of 1918

{{short description|1918 food riots in Japan}}
{{Expand Japanese|date=February 2024}}
[[File:Suzuki Shoten burnt out.jpg|right|thumb|250px|Suzuki Shoten in Kobe, burned during the rice riots of August 11, 1918]]
The '''{{nihongo|rice riots of 1918|米騒動|kome sōdō}}''' were a series of popular disturbances that erupted throughout [[Japan]] from July to September 1918, which brought about the collapse of the [[Terauchi Masatake]] administration.

==Causes==
A precipitous rise in the price of [[rice]] caused extreme economic hardship, particularly in rural areas where rice was the main staple of life.<ref name="ace">{{cite journal|last=Crump|first=John|year=1996|journal=Anarchist Communist Editions ACE Pamphlet|volume=8|publisher=Pirate Press|url=http://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/john-crump-the-anarchist-movement-in-japan-1906-1996|title=The Anarchist Movement in Japan, 1906–1996}}</ref> Farmers, who compared the low prices they were receiving from government regulation with the high market prices, had tremendous hostility to rice merchants and government officials, who had allowed the consumer price to spiral out of control. The [[inflation]] came in the early-20th-century inflationary spiral, which also affected most [[consumer goods]] and rents, and so urban dwellers also had considerable scope for grievances. The [[Siberian Intervention]] further inflamed the situation, with the government buying up existing rice stocks to support the troops overseas, which further drove rice prices even higher. The government intervention in economic affairs (low regulated rice prices) caused rural protests to spread to towns and cities.

==Riots==
The rice riots were unparalleled in modern Japanese history in terms of scope, size, and violence. The initial protest occurred in the small fishing town of [[Uozu, Toyama|Uozu]], [[Toyama Prefecture]], on 23 July 1918. It started with peaceful petitioning but quickly escalated to riots, strikes, looting, incendiary bombings of police stations and government offices, and armed clashes. In 1918, there were 417 separate disputes involving more than 66,000 workers.<ref name="ace"/> Some 25,000 people were arrested, of whom 8,200 were convicted of various crimes, with punishments ranging from minor fines to execution.<ref>{{cite book|last=MacPherson |first=WJ|year=1995|title=The Economic Development of Japan 1868–1941|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-521-55792-5}}</ref>

A link to [[Japanese imperialism]] is debated. Scholars argue that to alleviate the demand for rice, which exceeded the production capabilities of Japan at the time, colonial rice production in [[Taiwan under Japanese rule|Taiwan]] and [[Korea under Japanese rule|Korea]] was intensified.<ref>{{cite book |last=Smitka |first=Michael |title=Japanese Prewar Growth (Japanese Economic History 1600–1960) |publisher=Routledge |year=1998 |isbn=0-8153-2705-6 |page=192}}</ref>

== Government response ==
Taking responsibility for the collapse of public order, Japanese Prime Minister [[Terauchi Masatake|Terauchi]] and his cabinet resigned on 21 September 1918.

=== 1921 Rice Act ===
In response to the riots a measure of control was sought through the enactment of the 1921 Rice Act, or the Rice Law. This law established [[import duties]] and the ability to limit imports of rice from outside the Japanese Empire, and allowed the government power to control the "purchase, sale, storage, and processing of rice within the financial limit of two thousand million yen".<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Yujiro Hayami |title=Rice Policy in Japan's Economic Development |url=https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNAAA480.pdf |journal=American Journal of Agricultural Economics |pages=24–25}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Chan Qiu Qing |date=2020-12-21 |title=Commentary on Discriminatory Rice Policy |url=https://www.japaneseempire.info/post/commentary-on-discriminatory-rice-policy |access-date=2023-11-21 |website=Japan Empire Sources |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of food riots]]
{{Portal bar|Japan|Society|History|Food}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book
 | last = Beasley
 | first = W.G.
 | author-link = 
 | year = 1991
 | title = Japanese Imperialism 1894–1945
 | publisher = Oxford University Press
 | location =
 | isbn = 0-19-822168-1
}}

{{Japanese coups}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1918 in Japan]]
[[Category:1918 riots]]
[[Category:August 1918 events]]
[[Category:Japanese involvement in the Russian Civil War]]
[[Category:Food riots]]
[[Category:July 1918 events]]
[[Category:Rebellions in Japan]]
[[Category:Riots and civil disorder in Japan]]
[[Category:September 1918 events]]
[[Category:Looting in Asia]]
[[Category:Japanese military scandals]]