How much is harvested today?
According to Japan's agriculture ministry, Niigata harvested 638 thousand tonnes of paddy rice for grain in the 2025 crop year. Kagawa's agricultural report records 8,760 tonnes of wheat harvested in the prefecture that year. Both figures measure local harvests, not how much residents ate. They also concern different crops.
Rice farming remains substantial in Niigata, and wheat is still grown in Kagawa. Yet today's harvests cannot tell us why sasa-zushi or udon first appeared. Local food records offer a different line of evidence.
Niigata turns rice into sushi and sticky rice
The agriculture ministry's regional food records describe sasa-zushi, sushi rice served on bamboo leaves; Nagaoka's soy-seasoned sticky rice; and sasa-dango, rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves. The same grain became several dishes, shaped by local ingredients and celebrations.
Sado Island also has igo-neri, made from seaweed. The label 'rice country' cannot capture every Niigata dish; rice traditions coexist with other local foods.
Wheat, salt, dried sardines and soy sauce support Sanuki udon
Kagawa's udon draws on more than wheat. The ministry points to winter wheat farming, salt made on shallow coasts, dried anchovies from the Seto Inland Sea, and soy sauce from Shodoshima. Together these supplied noodles, broth and seasoning.
In central Kagawa, wheat was grown after rice, and people ate udon and dumplings at seasonal gatherings and celebrations. Dojo-jiru, a dish of loach and vegetables cooked with thick udon, also combined ingredients from the area.
The wheat source changed, but udon continued
Kagawa Prefecture says that, around 1955–1964 (the Shōwa 30s), unstable crops and other factors led udon makers to rely largely on imported wheat. In 1991 the prefecture began breeding wheat for udon, eventually developing Sanuki no Yume 2000.
Niigata has many ways of preparing rice; Kagawa's sources of udon wheat have changed. Both places have practices of processing ingredients and sharing food at seasonal and celebratory occasions. Their staple cultures rest on farming as well as local methods and the settings in which people eat.