Yukana Inoue

New farm minister Shinjiro Koizumi plans to move from auctioning stockpiled rice to using no-bid contracts, with prices set through negotiation, in an effort to bring down record-high prices. Koizumi, who took over after his predecessor, Taku Eto, stepped down […]

With rice prices in Japan still at sky-high levels, some consumers have turned to websites offering discounts as a way to cut cost — only to end up getting scammed. The Consumer Affairs Agency on Tuesday raised the alarm on

The parent company of Fuji TV, which has been caught in a series of scandals since the beginning of the year, on Friday posted a net loss of ¥20.1 billion ($138.5 million) for the business year through March amid a

Japanese retailers are turning to California-grown rice, known as Calrose, as an alternative to Japanese rice, which remains pricey and hard to come by. On Tuesday, major retailer Aeon held a Calrose tasting event at the U.S. embassy in Tokyo,

Two separate wildfires in mountain forest areas of Okayama and Ehime prefectures that started over the weekend continued to blaze on Monday, having burned at least 370 hectares of land between them as firefighters tried to put them out. This

In the event that Mount Fuji erupts and causes the Tokyo metropolitan area to be covered with volcanic ash, residents are advised to stay home to prevent panic, according to new guidelines released by the government’s expert panel on Friday.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt created a stir in Japan on Wednesday when she accused Japan of imposing a 700% tariff on American rice as an example of what the U.S. government views as “egregious” duties levied by their

Firefighters on Wednesday were still trying to put out the wildfire in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, now in its second week, as snow and rain offered hope of some relief. The blaze has so far burned through 2,900 hectares of land

The wildfire in Iwate Prefecture is quickly becoming one of the largest in decades, destroying 2,100 hectares of land, so far, in the past five days — or three times the yearly average of around 700 hectares that such infernos

At least one person has been found dead and 84 houses have been destroyed as another wildfire broke out Wednesday in Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, with the fire department and the Self-Defense Forces continuing their efforts to contain the fire, authorities