The role of rice in Japanese culture and cuisine

Added: 12/31/2005

From the very beginning it is important to point out that the Japanese word for cooked rice (gohan) has a general meaning of "meal" that stresses the importance of rice in the Japanese cuisine, as well as in the country's culture. Rice has been cultivated in Japan for over two thousand years, making the most important crop and the most important ingredient for many dishes. Once in the history of Japan, rice was even used as a currency.

Although rice (gohan) has two meanings of meals and cooked rice in the Japanese language, it is more than only food. Some researchers even consider that rice is an integral part of the Japanese culture and they are of no doubt right. The importance of rice for the Japanese culture is revealed through the way the Japanese have cultivated it for thousands of years and through their language as well.

Wet rice cultivation has formed such feature of the Japanese person as a social harmony, compromise and consensus seeking. Historically, rice cultivation was a very hard work, demanding unification in the process of work, as well as sharing water resources, irrigation equipment and a mutual support. Rice cultivation has also formed a group interest and group decision-making, since it was usually planted all within one day. Summing it up, this historical commitment to the group harmony still finds its reflection in today's group consciousness of the Japanese.

Since the language is always a cue to the most important concepts and values of the nation, we can trace the value and role of rice in the Japanese culture. It should be mentioned that the Japanese find it impossible to think about meals without rice, since the Japanese "gohan" is extended with prefixes, which give asagohan (breakfast), hirugohan (lunch) and bangohan (dinner). Moreover, the early indigenous name of Japan was "mizu ho no kuni" - the land of the water stalk plant or rice.

In fact, rice has links with many aspects of the Japanese culture throughout the history of Japan. For instance, many coronation ceremonies involved rice and rice products, connected with the personality of the emperor and Shinto religion. The control and guarding of rice crops was a political function during the main part of the Japanese history; at different times, rice served as a hard currency, measuring the wealth of lords and providing the payment for samurai.

Rice, composed with diverse ingredients, makes a considerable part of the traditional Japanese art of culinary. The most popular rice dishes are listed below:

Sake (rice wine) is actually a general term for "alcohol" in Japanese. The two main ingredients of sake are rice and water.

Mochi (or omochi) are small rice cakes, produced by pounding mochi rice. They are traditionally eaten on the New Year, but have now become available throughout the year. Mochi rice cakes are usually grilled and then served in a soup or wrapped in nori seaweed.

Rice flour is a major ingredient in various Japanese sweets (wagashi) and rice crackers (sembei).
Rice Vinegar is used in salads or for preparing sushi rice.

Sushi is the most famous Japanese dish outside Japan and one of the most popular dishes among the Japanese, who usually enjoy sushi on special occasions. Sushi is variously prepared, but its major component is rice and sushi vinegar.

Although modern Japan is no longer a country, where ninety percent of the population is occupied with rice cultivation, an average Japanese consumer pays an average of five times more for rice than an average U.S. consumer.

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