Japanese rice

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From left: white rice, half-milled rice, brown rice
A Japanese rice field in Nara

Japanese rice refers to a number of short-grain cultivars of Japonica rice which are grown in Japan. The two main categories of Japanese rice are ordinary rice (uruchimai) and glutinous rice (mochigome).

Ordinary Japanese rice, or uruchimai (粳米), is the type most commonly grown, and is the staple foodstuff of the Japanese diet. It consists of short translucent grains. When cooked it has a somewhat sticky texture such that it can easily be picked up and eaten with chopsticks. Outside of Japan it is sometimes labeled as sushi rice, as this is one of its common uses. It is also used to produce sake.

Glutinous rice, known in Japan as mochigome (もち米), is used for making mochi () and special dishes such as sekihan. It is a short-grain rice, and can be distinguished from uruchimai by its particularly short, round and opaque grains, its greater stickiness when cooked, and by its markedly firmer and chewier texture when consumed.


Contemporary cultivation of rice in Japan is highly mechanized, and almost all planting and harvesting is done by machine. The rice seeds are first soaked in water and planted in trays under covers, prior to being planted outside when they have become big enough. Rice fields cover many hillsides in rural Japan. Farmland is limited because so much of the country is mountainous.


Rice is an important crop throughout Japan. Koshihikari (コシヒカリ) is a particularly esteemed cultivar and one of the most highly grown in Japan. Akitakomachi is also quite popular. Sasanishiki is a cultivar known for keeping the same taste when cooled down. Yamada Nishiki is the most famous cultivar grown specifically for sake.


Calrose is the name used originally for a medium-grain Japonica cultivar developed in 1948, and now as a generic term for California medium grain Japonicas. While not true Japanese rice, Calrose-type rice has been grown by Japanese American producers in California for many years. It is commonly used to prepare Japanese cuisine in North America, and is reasonably good as a sushi rice. It is also exported to a number of countries including Japan, although it has not gained much popularity with Japanese consumers. In recent years, Koshihikari rice is also being grown in the US and Australia.



Hatsuga genmai (発芽玄米) is brown rice that has been soaked in heated water until germinated. It is also known as GABA rice, as the germination process greatly increases its gamma-Aminobutyric acid content. It has a softer texture than ordinary brown rice and a pleasant fragrance. It is sold in Japanese supermarkets, but it can also be made at home. Some high-end rice cookers have a GABA rice setting to automate the process.

Haigamai is rice that has been partially milled to remove most of the bran but leave the germ intact. It takes less time to cook than brown rice but retains more of the vitamins than white rice.

Coin-operated automated rice polishing machines, called seimaijo (精米所), for polishing brown rice, are a common sight in rural Japan. The rice polishing machines typically polish a 10 kg amount for 100 yen. The by-product of the polishing process, rice bran (米ぬかkomenuka) is used commercially as the source of rice bran oil. It may also be used for making a kind of pickle called nukazuke (ぬかづけ), as an organic fertilizer, and in livestock feed.

Most supermarkets in Japan sell ready-polished rice in 10 kg, 5 kg, and smaller bags. Brown rice is usually sold in 30 kg bags, which may be generally polished by the consumer in a coin operated polishing machine, or in smaller bags in supermarkets intended for eating as brown rice.


Sushi by Hiroshige in Edo period
Rice cooker of the Edo period (Fukagawa Edo Museum)

Ordinary rice, or uruchimai, is eaten in several ways in Japan, most commonly as plain rice "gohan" (ご飯?, lit. "cooked rice" or "meal of any sort") consumed as part of a typical washoku meal, with the accompaniment of several okazu dishes (おかず), tsukemono (various pickles), and miso soup. In bento boxes it is often served with a topping of furikake (ふりかけ), a single umeboshi, or a sheet of nori (海苔). It is used in sushi (寿司) and onigiri.

A very simple breakfast dish, tamago kake gohan, consists simply of plain rice mixed with a raw egg, and perhaps soy sauce. It is also common to eat plain rice with the accompaniment of natto, also popular for breakfast, although considered by some an acquired taste. Plain rice is used in yōshoku dishes such as curry rice, omurice, and doria. Leftover plain rice is often reused as ochazuke (茶漬け) (rice with green tea) or chāhan (チャーハン) (fried rice).



Glutinous rice, known in Japan as mochigome, is used for making mochi (), the festive red bean and rice dish sekihan, as well as traditional snacks such as senbei (煎餅), arare (あられ), and agemochi (揚げ餅).


Most Japanese use suihanki (rice cookers) to which measured amounts of washed rice and water are added. The rice is first washed to release excess starch. Then, before cooking it is usually soaked in water for a time between half an hour in summer, and two hours in winter. Soaking times depend on the quality and freshness of the rice, as well as on the season. The rice is then boiled using a ratio of about five parts of water to four parts of rice – though with fresher rice, the ratio can go down to 1-to-1. After this, it is steamed until the centre of the rice becomes soft. Salt is not added to the rice.

Traditionally, rice was eaten at every meal in Japan; most modern rice cookers can be set ahead by a timer, so that rice will be ready for the morning meal. The rice cooker can also keep rice moist and warm. Rice kept warm like this remains edible for several hours, so that rice need be made only once per day.

Prepared rice is usually served from the rice cooker into a chawan, or rice bowl.

After cooking, rice may also be held in a covered wooden box called an ohitsu.


The Dojima Rice Market in Osaka was the first known futures market, with trading in rice contracts established sometime around 1730. This market ceased with economic controls in 1939. In 2005, the Tokyo Grain Exchange announced that it would create a futures contract on rice with trading starting in the summer of 2006. [1] However, the trading of these futures contracts has been postponed to an unspecified date since it has not been approved by the Japanese government. [2]

The Tokyo Grain Exchange was founded in 1952 in the same location as the Kakigaracho Rice Trading Exchange, established in 1874. [3] As of 2005, two varieties of Japanese rice were in consideration for standardization of the contract.

In order to fulfill self-sufficiency goals in Japan and to support domestic rice producers, the Japanese government enforces quotas and high tariffs on foreign rice. As a result, most rice consumed in Japan is domestically produced. However, price increases in recent years have led a small but increasing number of Japanese consumers and restaurants to seek out the small amount of less-expensive rice imported from China, Australia, and the United States that is available in Japan.[1]


  1. ^ Tabuchi, Hiroko. "Japanese Consumers Reconsidering Rice Loyalty". New York Times. Retrieved 25 October 2012. 

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