alt Hacker NewsPrice of rice in Japan falls below ¥4k per 5kg
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This has been a fun/interesting ordeal to watch from far away, though I think people in Japan are feeling a lot of pain right now.
In Hawaii we get a lot of imported Japanese rice mainly due to prevalence of Japanese daily groceries here. The typical grocery store (eg donki) carries more than a few strains of rice - koshihikari, hitomebore, nanatsuboshi, hatsushimo, etc. These make a noticeable difference for your spam musubi's, but especially for sushi. We usually rotate between whatever's the cheapest Japanese imported rice, around $30-40 for ~15lbs, but I would say most people here eat Japanese rice.
At the start of the War on Trade, we noticed marginal price increases on Japanese rice, but especially noticed steep discounts on California calrose, like $15 for 25lbs, which to me felt insane. The local specialty rice store just had to issue a price increase notice last week (https://the-rice-factory-honolulu.square.site), though this seems like it's more the rice shortage than tariffs.
Thoughts and prayers though to the Japanese who will have to eat South Korean rice, once the national reserve stock dwindles. Hope they make it through this struggle period.
Related:
Why are rice prices still high? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44126639 - May 2025 (16 comments)
Japan plans to sell rice from emergency stockpiles to cut prices - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42915690 - Feb 2025 (11 comments)
Why has Japan been hit with rice shortages despite normal crops? - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41366304 - Aug 2024 (179 comments)
Some amount of price control makes sense for strategic defensive reasons: Japan isn't self sufficient in food but like many other economies wants to ensure a viable farming sector.
I'm not sure this amount of price control is needed for that outcome. From TV I get the impression Japanese rice production is pretty intensive, but also small plot focussed so not as efficient as Australia where it's miles and miles of field to the horizon.
Maybe Japanese rice farmers are a protected species?
I can buy rice at Costco in the US for $25 for 50lbs, which is equivalent to 854 yen for 5KG. A bit less than 1/4 the cost of Japanese grown rice.
Calrose is perfectly fine if you are looking for japanese grown rice replacement in the US. Same 'Oryza sativa subsp. japonica', just a different cultivar. It's the closest thing to Koshihikari but cheaper and widely available. Actually I'd say it's the best overall rice you can get not grown in Japan.
Good side by side https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Koshihik...
The "problem" is that you won't find rice like Yumepirika, Akitakomachi, Tsuyahime, or Nanatsuboshi (just a few example of my favorites) anywhere outside of Japan. Even Italy has japonica rice fields but it's a different class all together.
Asianometry did a great video on some of the reasons for this https://youtube.com/watch?v=l4vTQV3HjKU
$2.50/lb. in American
> Despite the fall, the average rice price was still ¥1,772 higher than that of a year earlier.
So this price isn't surprising or unusual at all.
Japan's the fourth largest economy in the world and, given how cheap rice is, it being 1x, 5x or even 10x average I'm sure is insignificant to 95%+ of people.
For perspective, it's about 2x what you'd pay in a UK supermarket. What's the big deal?
End of times...
Arsenic in rice is on the rise. There is a chart in this article, on how to reduce that.
https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-find-new-way-of-cooking-...
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The fact the average Japanese person won't even consider trying imported Japonica rice from Australia or USA is madness if budget is a consideration.
But as someone who's tried many varieties of Japonica, there is a difference between the best Japan-grown rice and non-speciality rice grown elsewhere, as well as a difference between fresh (Japanese enjoy eating new rice, which is different from many rice-eating cultures) and old rice.
I pay somewhere around AUD$14/kg for Japanese rice in Australia, but I also don't eat it that often and I'm not that price sensitive.
But also, the average Japanese eats around 1kg of uncooked rice per week. That's ¥800 at the rates in the article (~USD$300/year). Japan's cost of living is generally pretty low, but I doubt +/- $100/year is effecting many people.