Iwate, Japan, Jan. 6 – Japan’s rice policy discussion for 2027 will start in 2026. The Japan Agricultural News had an interview with Yusei Kikuchi, a Japanese professional baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels of Major League Baseball (MLB), about his thoughts on rice and the future direction of Japan’s rice policy.
“I take rice-oriented diet for better nutritional balance. I eat a lot of rice, like eight onigiri rice balls every day. I eat two rice balls per meal, three times a day, and two rice balls as a snack between meals. I travel with packed rice even when we are playing away games. My favorite rice brands are, of course, “Ginga no Shizuku (Drops of the Galaxy)” and “Konjiki no Kaze (Golden Wind)” from Iwate Prefecture. My teammates also enjoy eating Japanese rice and say they are “Oishi (delicious).” I teach them how to cook rice.
As I get older, I become increasingly fond of simpler ways of eating, and today, white rice is the best. I also like miso-seasoned rice, too.
I go to yakiniku restaurants with my teammate, but surprisingly, they do not know yakiniku (Japanese-style grilled beef). In the United States, they cock large chunks of meat at barbecue. I explain to them that we eat different types of sliced meat, like harami (beef skirt) and sirloin, in Japan, and I make them try. They also challenge the tongue nervously, only to find that it is actually very good.
In my high school baseball club, I made a rule that everyone had to eat 10 bowls of rice to build up their bodies. You must eat 10 bowls of rice before you leave the dormitory cafeteria. I made it very clear, and my teammates were afraid of me more than the team manager.
My grandparents are farmers, and I began helping them plant and harvest rice when I was little. So, I thoroughly understand how hard it is to grow rice. I saw them checking weather forecasts and praying at a shrine, hoping that nice weather would continue for a week. Watching them grow rice in their 60s and 70s, I always thought they were short of labor.
I’m in my second year as an ambassador for the Iwate Junjo-mai rice brand for a local agricultural cooperative in Iwate Prefecture, JA ZEN-NOH Iwate, that promotes rice from Iwate Prefecture. Not only do I appear in commercials, but I also visit farmers in Ichinoseki City. I proposed the program to give farmers’ thoughts and difficulties a voice. I’m glad if these activities can draw attention to farming and become an uplifting experience for farmers.
You are what you eat. I feel sorry if my children grow up without knowing the value of rice or how crops grow, so I grow strawberries and gourds at home. I also want to send messages about the importance of food.”
Yusei Kikuchi: Born in 1991 in Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture, Japan, graduated Hanamaki Higashi High School, Iwate, Japan, signed a pro deal with the Saitama Seibu Lions as a No. 1 draft pick in Japan in 2009, moved to MLB for the Seattle Mariners in 2019, marked 100 wins in Japan and the US in 2023, and currently plays at Los Angeles Angels (MLB)