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 ...

In response to soaring supermarket rice prices, the Japanese government released 210,000 tonnes of rice from its emergency reserves in February 2025, despite an abundance of rice production in the ...

A farmer harvests rice in a paddy field in Tambasasayama, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, on Aug. 28, 2024. Credit - Buddhika Weerasinghe—Bloomberg/Getty Images In Japan, the ruling government is weighing ...

Soaring rice prices in Japan have triggered a wave of panic buying this year — a stark contrast to Korea, where oversupply is expected. While this gap has created a “win-win” opportunity for exports, ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Shigeru Ishiba, Japan’s prime minister, with Donald Trump. Only the first 100,000 tonnes of imported ‘staple rice’ can enter Japan ...

The price of rice in Japan has doubled in the last year. NPR's Ari Shapiro talks with University of Pittsburgh scholar Kay Shimizu about what's behind the shortage in the homeland of sushi. Remember ...

Sushi, onigiri and yakitori don — Japanese rice is a key staple in many of its iconic dishes, but the country is facing its biggest shortfall in decades. Japan has been contending with a rice shortage ...

Last fall, shelves in the rice section of supermarkets were almost bare. Any available rice’s prices had shot up. Venues like bars and coffee shops showcased rice at their front windows at a premium.

Shinjiro Koizumi, agriculture minister of Japan, eats a rice ball during his visit to a rice farm in Sugito, Saitama Prefecture, Japan, on Wednesday, July 9, 2025. Credit - Soichiro Koriyama—Getty ...