French Olympic judo team embraces the power of onigiri

By YUKO KAWASAKI/ Staff Writer

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Luka Mkheidze holds the gold medal won by the French mixed team judo in Paris on Aug. 3. (Yuko Kawasaki)

PARIS--French judoka Luka Mkheidze credited a traditional Japanese food with giving him and his teammates the lift they needed to win medals at the Paris Olympics. 

“Onigiri are like fuel for the body. They give me energy so I can perform properly throughout the day,” said Mkheidze, 28, after France defeated Japan in the Olympic mixed team judo final on Aug. 3.

Mkheidze took home the silver medal in the men’s 60 kg judo competition at the Paris Games.

Mkheidze said he tried Japanese rice balls for the first time during the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. He quickly got hooked by how delicious and convenient they are and started eating them during practices and matches.

He even buys them for his teammates.

“I think a lot of people on the team like onigiri, too,” he said.

In Paris, there are more than 50 onigiri shops, and rice balls are also available in the supermarkets for around 500 yen ($3.40) a piece.

French onigiri have also developed unique flavors such as “salmon and cream cheese” and “tuna and lemon.”

The Paris branch of Omusubi Gonbei, a rice ball shop from Tokyo, is so popular that it often has long lines.

French model Nazim Bouaziz, 26, said, “I prefer onigiri over baguettes because they’re healthier.”

In addition to onigiri, other Japanese foods are also gaining attention.

Aki Cafe in central Paris sells “mochi” as well as onigiri. In France, mochi is a dessert similar to “daifuku,” with cream, ice cream or mousse wrapped inside mochi dough.

Owner Yosuke Ono, 43, said that the shop has been selling mochi for eight years and now sells a thousand a day, including at their chain of stores.

He added that onigiri became more popular during the COVID-19 pandemic as takeout orders increased. Now the shop sells 600 to 700 onigiri a day.

The Olympics is bringing spectators, athletes and officials from around the world to Paris—and new opportunities along with them.

“I want to spread onigiri and mochi not just in Paris but worldwide,” Ono said.