The price of rice in Japan has doubled in the past year, and the nation's emergency stockpile is dwindling. A poor harvest in 2023 is partly to blame, but Japan is reckoning with much deeper structural problems in its domestic rice market. Decades of rigid protectionism have created an artificial scarcity, and consumers are feeling the pinch. 

• Guest: Ethan Wu, Asia business and finance editor at The Economist
• Producer: Jack Schmidt