By Mari Yamaguchi / The Associated Press  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 ...

Why are rice prices soaring in Japan? After covering the issue for nearly a year since last summer, I think I now know the ...

Japan's agriculture minister, Taku Eto, resigned on May 21 just six months into his term, following a public backlash to his ...

Rice is getting too expensive in Japan. Many people cant afford it, and its becoming a big problem. The government is trying ...

Japan's Agriculture Minister Taku Eto, center, arrives at the prime minister's office in Tokyo Wednesday, May 21, 2025. (Kyodo News via AP) Large bags of several varieties of rice are sold at a ...

The past three rounds of stockpiled rice auctions conducted under his predecessor, Taku Eto, failed to deliver rice to retailers speedily, Koizumi said. The auctions "didn't have the effect of ...

Japan's Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Shinjiro Koizumi appeared on a TV Tokyo program on the night of May ...

Japan’s new farm minister said Monday the country’s embattled government would release reserve rice directly to large retailers in an attempt to bring down prices for consumers after the recent spike.

TOKYO: Japan's new farm minister said Monday (May 26) the country's embattled government would release reserve rice directly ...

The Japanese government's announcement that it would sell 300,000 metric tons of rice directly to major retailers to curb ...

The government depends on the cooperatives to get the additional Japanese rice to the market, and they’re taking their sweet time. The emergency imports are coming from South Korea, and, as you might ...