US promoting Calrose in Japan

Japan opened its rice market only in 1995, and the government still tightly controls the inflow of foreign rice, keeping tariffs for rice at 770%.

Most of the 770,000 tons of rice Japan imports a year end up as foreign aid, processed for crackers or sitting in storage. Only a small amount reaches consumers in restaurants and supermarkets.

Recently, U.S. rice has been losing to cheaper Chinese rice, tumbling in market share from 70% of Japan's foreign rice a decade ago to 20%, according to the federation. "If given a fair opportunity in the Japanese market, Calrose rice will be accepted and successful," said USA Rice Federation official Christopher Crutchfield.