Cultivation of "high-yield rice," an affordable alternative that can be harvested in larger quantities than premium brands, is growing as Japan tries to counter the rise in ingredient costs challenging restaurant chains and producers of ready-made meals.
Increasingly viewed as a "savior" in terms of cost, this variety has caught on at large farms and is gradually penetrating the entire industry, turning heads at agricultural cooperatives across the country.
In the town of Yoro, Gifu Prefecture, bordering Nagoya on the western tip of the Nobi Plain, a yellow signboard adorned with the logo of Curry House CoCo Ichibanya stands in a rice paddy.