Price of rice in Japan falls below ¥4k per 5kg

The fact the average Japanese person won't even consider trying imported Japonica rice from Australia or USA is madness if budget is a consideration.

But as someone who's tried many varieties of Japonica, there is a difference between the best Japan-grown rice and non-speciality rice grown elsewhere, as well as a difference between fresh (Japanese enjoy eating new rice, which is different from many rice-eating cultures) and old rice.

I pay somewhere around AUD$14/kg for Japanese rice in Australia, but I also don't eat it that often and I'm not that price sensitive.

But also, the average Japanese eats around 1kg of uncooked rice per week. That's ¥800 at the rates in the article (~USD$300/year). Japan's cost of living is generally pretty low, but I doubt +/- $100/year is effecting many people.

> The fact the average Japanese person won't even consider trying imported Japonica rice from Australia or USA is madness if budget is a consideration.

I live in Japan, and my girlfriend is an atypical Japanese that doesn't like rice that much. For her, the madness is that people here won't even consider other sources of carbs like pasta, potatoes, or bread.

Normally when someone makes that kind of remarks, the subconscious intent is that we can further enrich rosters of lunch options with abundant Japanese purchasing power, than that we can actually replace rice with something more however rational. So it sort of amounts to modern day let them eat cakes quote - which wasn't crazy as it sounds with context at the time that cakes were supposed to be cheaper than plain breads, if it weren't for famine.