This Tokyo rice ball takes 20 years to make and 2,000 yen (US$14.30) to buy, but is it worth it?

Taste-testing Manma’s premium onigiri in Shinjuku . It wasn’t all that long ago that most onigiri (rice balls) at Japanese convenience stores were around 120 yen (US$0.85).

Following a string of rapid price increases, though, 120 yen is now a bargain price for onigiri , and a lot of them are now in the 160-and-up price range. But even as we’ve braced ourselves to see higher and higher onigiri prices, we were still shocked when we found a single rice ball that sells for a whopping 2,000 yen (US$14.30)! What’s more, this isn’t an onigiri that’s only available as an eat-in item at some exclusive members-only gourmet restaurant in Ginza.

It’s offered by Manma , an unassuming-looking onigiri specialty shop in Tokyo’s Shinjuku neighborhood, not far from SoraNews24 HQ. ▼ Manma At more than 10 times the price of an average onigiri, this was going to have to do something special to convince us to give it a try. So what was the special thing? Well, Manma used to operate under the name Bongo , a small chain that makes some of the very best onigiri around.

We’ve been fans for years , and so when we saw that they’re selling something called the Special 20-year Miso Onigiri , we decided to open our wallet and keep an open mind until after we’d taste-tested it. Miso is made by mashing soybeans into a paste and letting it ferment, a process which usually requires around six months. For this premium onigiri, though, Manma uses an extra-fancy variety of miso which takes.