More than four centuries of agricultural tradition are at risk of coming to an end in Niigata prefecture in Japan. The region is the famed origin of koshihikari rice — one of the most prized ...

JA Alps, an association of agricultural cooperatives based in Toyama Prefecture ... In 2023, only 5 percent of the Koshihikari variety rice harvested in Niigata Prefecture was deemed first ...

“Rice farming is a fundamental part of our culture in Japan. Niigata prefecture has one of the biggest areas of paddy fields in the country.” But decades of Koshihikari rice farming in the ...

At a produce stand in Isumi, Chiba Prefecture, bags of unpolished, newly harvested rice of the “Koshihikari” variety are on sale. A sign advertises a price of 12,500 yen ($86) per 30 kilograms ...