Japan in Alagaësia

New World

New World

Over the next three days, the Diet had passed numerous new laws in an unprecedented show of unity between the political parties (after painstaking negotiations), and other government agencies had worked overnight to introduce new measures. Food, oil, natural gas, and many other consumer and industrial goods were to be rationed. All domestic flights had been halted immediately to reduce oil consumption. Trains and subways were to run less frequently to reduce electricity consumption. A massive investment bill was being rushed through the Diet, targeting agriculture and fisheries. The Bank of Japan was considering extraordinary measures on liquidity injection to finance public spending and a reduction of the national debt. And having declared a state of emergency, the government used its newfound powers to forcefully charter most ships and planes that had belonged to private actors except for those registered in other countries.

Following the prime minister's address panic buying had ensued across all of Japan before the rationing measures could come into effect. Many stores and other retail markets, which had already struggled to resupply in pace with an earlier bout of panic buying caused by the COVID-19, had little to offer but empty shelves already in their opening hours. A growing sense of panic was gripping the nation.

Meanwhile, a heated discussion was taking place in a cabinet meeting in the Kantei.

"... coronavirus had already reduced oil consumption by an estimated twenty-five percent, it should be possible to reduce it further by at least the same amount. Our stockpiles could last a year, or longer."

"That's not enough! We must find a way to cover our needs!"

"Impossible. We simply do not have the reservoirs."

"And our LNG stockpile would only last a few weeks, now that's the real worry."

"Also, how's the food situation?" asked Naruhito, who had opted to leave the Imperial Palace to be present at the meeting.

"Your Majesty," began the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, "our net food self-sufficiency ratio was estimated at thirty-seven percent in 2018, without taking into account the logistical disruptions caused by the transfer. In output value terms, the figure was sixty-six percent. This mismatch comes down largely to fruits and vegetables; you see, our vegetable farms produce a lot of high-value agricultural products but the caloric content is low."

Naruhito seemed taken aback.

"Oh, and I should add, domestic production on a supply basis is forty-six percent—in calories. The reason for this figure being higher than the net is because of the massive amount of imported feed that we are unable to mass produce. The silver lining is that our self-sufficiency ratio in rice is close to a hundred percent. So we'll have to encourage the consumption of rice before other grains, and encourage people to consume less meat. We must fully reverse the effects of the gentan system and quickly expand rice acreage and overall cultivated acreage closer to pre-Heisei norms of above five million hectares. More labor must be added to the agricultural sector to achieve this and the specific interventions are being designed and some implemented at this very moment. It might also be possible to substitute fish for meat to a certain extent, if parts of the surrounding ocean were transferred along with us from Earth," the minister finished breathlessly.

"Exactly!" exclaimed the Minister of State for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, an elderly man whose responsibilities had been rendered obsolete by the transfer, and had therefore taken to remarking on everything that concerned other cabinets. "We are no longer on Earth, and therefore international agreements on fisheries no longer apply! Let us take full advantage of this fact!"