Japanese Rice History
It is the staple food.
Japanese rice history. Conrad totman professor of japanese history at yale university emeritus responds to this question with an accessible overview of the history of and mechanics behind rice cultivation in japan. And it is left as offering to gods and ancestors. Rice in japan. But the vagaries of history and the lifestyle change of the japanese population have resulted in a drop in rice consumption of more than 50 in 40 years.
The source of traditional spirit sake. Ordinary japanese rice or uruchimai is the staple of the japanese diet and consists of short translucent grains when cooked it has a sticky texture such that it can easily be picked up and eaten with chopsticks. It has even been said that japanese people are like a bowl of rice uniform homogenous and sticking closer together. Making mochi the importance of rice in japan can not be emphasized enough.
Japanese rice refers to a number of short grain cultivars of japonica rice including ordinary rice uruchimai and glutinous rice mochigome.