More About Japanese Rice

In 1988, Chris Isbell was at a rice technical meeting in California when he met a Japanese rice economist by the name of Shoichi Ito. They struck up a conversation about the Japanese rice market and the possibility of American one day being sold in Japan. It was then that Chris learned that all rice isn't the same. Where American people generally eat long grain rice, Japanese people don't like it at all. They prefer short grain, and, if at all possible, Koshihikari.

Chris Isbell came away from that conversation with the dream and determination to grow Japan's favorite rice here in America, and possibly one day sell it to them.

When Chris came home from that trip, he began to research the possibility of growing Japanese rice in the United States. He quickly found that most Japanese people believed it was impossible to grow Koshihikari outside of Japan. The only way to know for sure is try.

In 1990, Chris was ready. Since seed was scarce, this first year he planted only a very small plot of brown rice. He began to increase the seed and by 1992 had enough to market. With the Japanese market still firmly closed, the next option was the domestic Japanese market. He soon came into contact with Nishimoto Trading Company and began marketing Koshihikari USA in major Japanese population centers throughout the United States.

By 1995, Chris began talks with Itochu Trading Company. When the trade barriers were finally lifted, Isbell Farms' Koshihikari was sold in over 3,500 Family Mart stores. By this time Chris Isbell and Isbell Farms was well known throughout Japan due to coverage from magazines, newspapers and all of the major Japanese TV networks. Itochu and Family Mart decided to take advantage of this free advertising and sell the rice under the name 'Chris's Rice' with a picture of the Isbell family adorning the bag. The rice sold successfully, and Family Mart even sponsored a sweepstakes for the buyers of the rice. Twenty-five people won a trip to Isbell Farms to see where the rice which their ancestors had always believed would only grow in Japan was now being grown successfully in Arkansas.