$120 urchin rice bowl? Food prices soar amid warming seas in Japan

As Japan faces its hottest summer in history, a sharp decline in the catch of sea urchin in the country’s north has made the spiny delicacy further out of reach for many consumers already strained by high food costs.

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On Hokkaido’s Rishiri Island, restaurants offer a rice bowl with 100 grams of bafun sea urchin — renowned for its rich sweetness — at a record ¥15,000-¥18,000 ($100-$120), roughly double what it was several years ago.

“Everyone is shocked when they see the price,” said Kimiko Sato, owner of the Sato Shokudo restaurant across from Rishiri’s Oshidomariferry terminal, which her family has run for more than 50 years.

“A group of customers would share just one sea urchin bowl, and everyone would order ramen for themselves,”

While sea urchin is traditionally considered a luxury item, the prohibitive price has made it off-limits even for special occasions for many households in Japan, where soaring food costs have become an urgent issue for authorities in Tokyo.

Rising food prices mean an average Japanese household’s spending on food is now at nearly 30%, the highest in 43 years.

Policymakers have mostly blamed the sharp rise in food prices on the weak yen’s upward pressure on import costs — but the effects of global warming now also loom asa risk.

In Rishiri, the catch of sea urchins has halved from last year, according to Tatsuaki Yamakami, executive director at the Rishiri Fisheries Cooperative, continuing a trend he has observed for a few years.

“The prices are soaring due to low catches,” said Mr. Yamakami,a 40-year industry veteran, “I think the rising sea temperatures are to blame... it’s a worrying situation.”