A simmering crisis over staple rice has suddenly boiled over in Japan. Since 2023, a punishing heatwave slashed harvests to their lowest in over a decade. As of June 2025, a 5-kilogram bag of ...

Shigeru Ishiba, Japan’s prime minister, with Donald Trump. Only the first 100,000 tonnes of imported ‘staple rice’ can enter Japan tariff-free - Kent Nishimura/Reuters Japan’s attempt to strike a deal ...

Agriculture Minister Taku Eto sparked outrage after telling reporters he had 'so much rice at home' that he could sell it - The Asahi Shimbun/Getty Images An off-the-cuff remark about never paying for ...

Whether it’s posting pictures of him eating gyudon (beef bowl) between meetings or holding rice balls at campaign stops, Shinjiro Koizumi has worked hard to portray himself as a regular Tokyoite. The ...

The average retail price of the staple grain hit a new record high for the first time in three weeks, according to ...

TOKYO >> Japan said on Friday it would release another 300,000 metric tons of rice from its emergency stockpile through July and tweak its purchasing policy to counter a shortage and rein in sky-high ...

The surge in rice prices in Japan has had a knock-on effect on an indispensable feature of New Year feasts. Mochi cakes are ...

After months of increasing rice prices, Japanese consumers may be finally getting some relief. Stream San Diego News for free, 24/7, wherever you are with NBC 7. Data from Japan's agriculture ministry ...

TOKYO (AP) -- Rice is essential to Japanese culture, tradition and politics. People take pride in the oval-shaped sticky Japonica grain, which is still a staple even though total consumption has ...

TOKYO -- Rice is essential to Japanese culture, tradition and politics. People take pride in the oval-shaped sticky Japonica grain, which is still a staple even though total consumption has fallen ...

Foreign residents and locals savored a local New Year's dish at an international exchange event held in western Japan's ...