Good sushi rice and donburi start with short-grain japonica that cooks up plump, glossy, and just sticky enough to eat with chopsticks, a different grain from the long, fluffy stuff. Almost all of it is grown in California, and the best comes from families who grow and mill it themselves rather than a distributor bagging anonymous bulk grain.
Published July 2026 · Updated 7 Jul 2026
Keisaburo Koda started growing rice in California's San Joaquin Valley in 1928, and three generations later the family still grows and mills on the same ground. They bred Kokuho Rose, the first premium 'medium' grain in the US and a longtime favorite of Japanese-American families, and also make Sho-Chiku-Bai sweet rice and stone-ground rice flours. Everything from paddy to package happens on their own farm.
Why it isn't on AmazonOne family growing, breeding, and milling a single heirloom variety for nearly a century is the opposite of commodity rice blended from whoever's grain came in cheapest.
See it at Koda Farms →Tamaki Gold is real Koshihikari, the benchmark Japanese variety, grown near the Sutter Buttes in the Sacramento Valley and milled for sushi bars and home cooks who want the actual cultivar. Cooked, it's plump, faintly sweet, and glossy, with the chew short-grain lovers are after. Found at Japanese grocers and online.
Why it isn't on AmazonGenuine Koshihikari grown and milled in California is a specific varietal choice; most bags marked 'sushi rice' are generic medium-grain that just clumps when you cook it.
See it at Tamaki Rice →This seat's open on purpose — we won't pad the list to hit a number. If you ship real japanese short-grain rice direct, it's earned, not sold.
Add your brand →Short-grain japonica is plump and sticky, the classic sushi and onigiri rice. Medium-grain (like Kokuho Rose) is a touch longer but still cooks tender and cohesive. Calrose is a California medium-grain variety name that's become a catch-all for generic 'sushi rice'; it works, but named cultivars like Koshihikari have more flavor and a better chew.
For most cooking, yes. Nearly every sushi bar in North America runs on California-grown short-grain, and family farms there grow true Japanese cultivars in similar valley conditions. Freshly milled California Koshihikari or Kokuho Rose beats an imported bag that spent months in shipping.
Rinse the rice in a few changes of cold water until the water runs mostly clear, which removes surface starch so the grains stay distinct. Drain well, then cook with roughly equal parts water to rice (a rice cooker nails it), and let it rest covered for ten minutes off the heat. Fluff gently so you don't crush the grains.
Keep it in an airtight container somewhere cool and dark; rice is a dry good but it stales and loses aroma over months, and warmth invites pantry pests. Milled white rice keeps well for a good while sealed; buy in sizes you'll cook through in a few months rather than a year-old sack.
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