Japanese rice increasingly shipped abroad as domestic demand wanes

Wow! No doubt this is a result of the protectionist policies keeping the prices higher than imported rice. I buy jasmine rice from Thailand. It’s much nicer and is around the same price delivered to my door by Amazon.

Lol can’t talk about Japanese rice without bashing Chinese rice ehh?

Japanese rice has become known for being fresh and delicious

As well as being the worse type of rice for diabetics and carb-watchers. Sorry, but I'll take basmati and jasmine over japanese any day.

My mistake. I shouldn't have said 'as well'. Japanese rice just doesn't have the fragrance you get from basmati or jasmine. It's tasteless.

To each their own on which variety of rice, I only want short grain on my sushi but love basmati for my green curry.

My question is: is there some sort of agricultural practice that the Japanese rice farmers think they are doing to produce a better rice than any other country using the same variety? Genuine question as I never hear this type of statement about, corn or tomatoes or...heck, any other food.

11,800 tons produced in 2017 versus a target of 100,000 tons. If I missed my targets by that wide a margin, I’d be fired (and laughed at).

I was stunned at the price of rice here when I first arrived

This is a great idea. There are definitely niche markets among the growing upper middle class populations of all Asian countries. Not just China, but in places like India and so on. Japanese producers can benefit from the perception of 'Japanese quality' and charge a premium price for their goods. I think others could do the same- fruit growers and tea growers especially.

I was stunned at the price of rice here when I first arrived

was stunned at the price of everything when I first arrive, over the years many things have become much cheaper due to foreign imports or many items prices have stagnated. except rice its still ridiculously high

Rice is not a luxury, like potatoes. Anyone can grow it easily in fact. One just needs the labor.

Personally, I never tasted some rice in the world then saying to myself : this rice is so special.

Please buy local. Sending 11700 tons abroad to import also many tons is ludicrous, and against environment.

Problme is Japan govrnment won't allow it before years and years for the Japanese rice to be sold at its value price, ie very similar to foreign price.

My question is: is there some sort of agricultural practice that the Japanese rice farmers think they are doing to produce a better rice than any other country using the same variety? Genuine question as I never hear this type of statement about, corn or tomatoes or...heck, any other food.

Indeed. The same grape varieties are grown all over the world, sometimes in quite different climates, but produce largely similar wines. Nowhere in Japan is remotely as dry as the south of France, for example.

I wonder if it is possible to write an article about Japanese rice without calling it a "high-quality product"? It is certainly grown with world-leading amounts of agricultural chemicals. Is that a sign of "quality"?

The domestic market for Japanese rice has not changed. There is just as much rice being produced as has been grown in the past due to the price fixing and farmers being paid not to grow. This means, the demand for Japanese rice has decreased. However, has the demand dropped bevause of imported rice or has it dropped because people are not eating as much rice? This is what they should be worried about.

Rice is nice.

Food is one thing that should always be grown locally. One can live without imports (domestic and foreign) of new clothing, video games, etc, but one would starve without food. I've lived in some areas that grow no food and I think one disaster that destroys the road or causes oil prices to skyrocket would starve many.

Here in Japan, I wish to buy Rice to suit the food I cook - why should I have to pay a premium in order to cook an Indian or Thai disk over a Japanese one if, the Japanese exported Rice is cheaper to that sold locally... therein is the Scandal.

 I buy jasmine rice from Thailand.

Same here. That thing's fragrant, delicious, not too starchy, and affordable.

Lol can’t talk about Japanese rice without bashing Chinese rice ehh?

It's quintessential in Japan, but not just rice though. It's practically everything else.

My question is: is there some sort of agricultural practice that the Japanese rice farmers think they are doing to produce a better rice than any other country using the same variety? Genuine question as I never hear this type of statement about, corn or tomatoes or...heck, any other food.

You'll hear it in Japan all the time. Apparently, even the Chinese food in Japan is better than the Chinese food in China. Might as well call Japan as the real heir of the Confucian Middle Kingdom, while the landmass west of it can be called "shina".

rice is so overrated and over priced, I can get by easily without it