alt Hacker NewsThe 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.
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Fun fact: in feudal Japan, taxes and income were measured in koku of rice (approx 150 kg), which is roughly how much a person needed to sustain themselves for a year. The little plastic cup that comes with your rice cooker measures one gō, which is 1/1000th of a koku.
From what I've seen at the supermarket, cal-rose, rice from California does sell out and get restocked with reasonable quantity. While I can't be sure it's "average Japanese people" buying it I see no reason to believe otherwise. It's been shown on TV a few times too, the sure-fire average marketing in Japan.
> 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.
Domestic rice is a national security concern, not a financial one. Being fed by another country, even an ally, can turn pear-shaped very quickly. Is it that hard to imagine Trump threatening to starve Japan if they don't bow to his demands?*
> 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.
Why the doubt? The average price of rice literally doubled YoY. For families that can be hundreds of dollars per month (yen equivalent) that they have to pull out of thin air, and that's in a country where the median wage is half of Australia.
* Yes, Japan already imports over half of its food, but rice is where the government decided to draw the line in the sand.
> I pay somewhere around AUD$14/kg for Japanese rice in Australia
a 10kg bag of (AU-grown) koshihikari at Hanaromart (some Asian supermarket) is around 43 AUD right now IIRC. Could I tell the difference in blind tasting between it and just "normal" koshihikari off the shelf off a Japanese supermarket? Maybe, but maybe not. Not an argument for removing trade barriers, but the gap right now seems pretty stark.
I do feel like it's worth thinking about how you're saying 800 yen, but that might be per person. So for a 3-person family that's almost ~120k JPY per year. If you could cut that down to 90k JPY per year thats an extra 2500 JPY per month you can spend on food.
If you're the kind of person who only goes to the discount shops, an extra 2500 JPY per month can go a decent way on food. If you are on a pretty strict/limited food budget that 2500 JPY could go a long way.
Though of course like with eggs, etc, all food prices are just more obvious as well. And Japan has had really nasty inflation with energy + the weakening yen as well, so this is yet another thing that saps away at a budget where you're probably not saving that much to begin with.
Japan forces this to be the case with extremely high tariffs on rice imports. It's not that they won't consider it, they literally can't.
> the average Japanese eats around 1kg of uncooked rice per week.
That's gonna be crunchy
> 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.
I live in Japan, and my girlfriend is an atypical Japanese that doesn't like rice that much. For her, the madness is that people here won't even consider other sources of carbs like pasta, potatoes, or bread.
Oh, this brings back memories. I agree, the Japanese-grown rice in Japan is definitely different than the imported stuff.
I used to buy the rice grown in Fukushima prefecture because it was sold at a significant discount, during the short and financially disastrous period where I tried to immigrate there.
I got Calrose about a month back for just over 3000 yen, which is slightly cheaper than the homegrown stuff. The issue is that a year ago the homegrown stuff was going for 1500 yen.
Honestly, I think the average Japanese person wouldn't care that much after they tried it a few times. Especially upon noting the significant monthly savings. There's almost no imported rice even available here, and the propaganda of the superiority of domestic rice is quite powerful.
I don't think it is simple to eat a different rice under normal circumstances once you are used to it. In my case even something which is staple variety 200 km away
Not always a smart choice: https://www.japanfs.org/sp/en/news/archives/news_id032147.ht...
I'm curious if anyone has noticed a significant taste difference between Japonica rice and those imported from China, Korea, or Vietnam. Is one generally considered better tasting than the others?
Their rice imports have risen by 2 orders of magnitude from 126 tons a year to over 10k tons already[1]
I don’t know if that is a drop in the bucket compared to their total consumption but their does appear to be an increasing appetite for foreign rice at the price points Japan is currently experiencing
[1] https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Agriculture/Japan-s-May-ric...
How is eating rice from years old storage "eating fresh rice"?
This rice in Japan is cheap because it's coming out of storage.
At least for supermarkets around me they _only_ sell Japanese rice. You’d have to buy online or drive out which doesn’t work for vast majority of old population.
Also as an East Asian I can somewhat understand reluctance to change rice. It’s just such a staple in your daily life. If I had eaten one type of rice for my entire life (and the price of the rice has remained stable for the last 40 years) and suddenly I can’t afford that type of rice, it would be a shock.