[HN Gopher] Price of rice in Japan falls below Y=4k per 5 kilograms
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       Price of rice in Japan falls below Y=4k per 5 kilograms
        
       Author : PaulHoule
       Score  : 19 points
       Date   : 2025-06-30 19:54 UTC (3 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.japantimes.co.jp)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.japantimes.co.jp)
        
       | jmpman wrote:
       | I can buy rice at Costco in the US for $25 for 50lbs, which is
       | equivalent to 854 yen for 5KG. A bit less than 1/4 the cost of
       | Japanese grown rice.
        
         | apeescape wrote:
         | Isn't Japanese rice pretty different to Costco rice? Genuine
         | question.
        
           | Izikiel43 wrote:
           | Japanese rice variety I think is called Japonica. I'm not
           | sure if costco sells it.
        
           | treefarmer wrote:
           | Yeah, as someone who started with Costco rice and slowly
           | moved up the quality chain, there is a clear difference in
           | taste between even average Japanese rice and most Costco
           | rice. It would be interesting to see a price/quality
           | comparison between the U.S. and Japanese Costcos though.
        
           | SpecialistK wrote:
           | I can't remember how much I paid, but I was able to buy 10KG
           | of grown-in-Japan short grain rice at Costco in Canada within
           | the last year.
        
         | tsukikage wrote:
         | Cheapest rice I can easily get here in the UK, equivalent to
         | ~1600JPY/5kg: https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-
         | GB/products/314300009
         | 
         | Cheapest rice I am actually willing to eat, ~3000JPY/5kg:
         | https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/293247162
         | 
         | Shortgrain rice, such as Japanese rice, tends to be even more
         | expensive than that.
         | 
         | That said, no idea where whatever it is the article is quoting
         | the price of falls on that scale.
        
         | Aeolun wrote:
         | You can buy the same rice in Japan if you are really desperate.
         | 
         | I think they're deliberately talking only about rice people
         | actually want to buy.
        
         | makeitdouble wrote:
         | That's the perfect setting for the "Mom can we have X ? No, we
         | have X at home" meme.
         | 
         | Otherwise USA rice is imported in Japan, as well as other
         | countries' and is indeed way cheaper, but not desirable and
         | people aren't literally starving either.
        
       | NaOH wrote:
       | Related:
       | 
       |  _Why are rice prices still high?_ -
       | https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44126639 - May 2025 (16
       | comments)
       | 
       |  _Japan plans to sell rice from emergency stockpiles to cut
       | prices_ - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=42915690 - Feb
       | 2025 (11 comments)
       | 
       |  _Why has Japan been hit with rice shortages despite normal
       | crops?_ - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41366304 - Aug
       | 2024 (179 comments)
        
       | bbarnett wrote:
       | Arsenic in rice is on the rise. There is a chat in this article,
       | on how to reduce that.
       | 
       | https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-find-new-way-of-cooking-...
        
         | opan wrote:
         | >The PBA method involves parboiling the rice in pre-boiled
         | water for five minutes before draining and refreshing the
         | water, then cooking it on a lower heat to absorb all the water.
        
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       (page generated 2025-06-30 23:00 UTC)