Rice: The Japanese identity

I wanted to refresh my memory of nihonjinron and kokugaku writing, so of course I looked up those terms in Wikipedia. What a disappointment! Usually, when I look up something there, I find myself admiring the authors' grasp of their subjects and wishing I knew as much as they. But when it comes to these studies of writings about what it means to be Japanese, I find a glaring omission. THE WORD RICE ISN'T MENTIONED ONCE!

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Now that you've looked up those terms in Wikipedia, let me continue and explain. The kokugaku writings of the 19th centruy and the nihonjin writings of the 20th, especially newspaper articles, continually make references to rice, specifically Japanese rice. Over and over again, the authors mention Japanese rice and its unique taste. Twentieth century writers, and now 21st century ones, love to extoll the value of white rice, Japanese white rice. Almost every week, I read in an English language edition of a Japanese newspaper how some scientific study "has proven the healthfulness of" or some people "always refer admiringly to" "the Japanese diet" with its emphasis on fish, fresh vegetables, and white rice. Of course, as you probably know, brown rice (which is also available here) is much healthier than white rice and it was the standard rice in Japan until sometime in the 19th century, when a combination of manufacting developments and economic expansion led to the spread of white rice among the middle and, eventually, working classes.

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the presence of comments in 19th century Japanese writings extolling the virtues of Japanese rice is the fact that noone of the authors would have ever seen so much as a single grain of non-Japanese rice in their lives. Even today, rice imported into Japan is used exclusively in industrial processes such as making sembe (rice crackers). None of the journalists for those Japanese newspapers would have ever tasted a bowl of non-Japanese rice unless they were traveling outside Japan. Most likely, none of them has ever tasted a bowl of Japanese or foreign brown rice such as y family eats every day.

When I first came to Japan to live, several Japanese asked me if I liked Japanese rice, and of course I said I did. But really, in a way, Japanese rice is a little disappointing in the flavor and aroma departments. It tastes fine, but the flavor is so delicate and the aroma is so minimal that, for an aging person like me, it's almost impossible to taste of smell it at all. On my recent visit to California, I really appreciated the stronger aroma of Thai Jasmin rice and wish I'd had occasion to eat some Indian Basmati. Still, Japanese rice is fine, especially Japanese BROWN rice. Too bad so few Japanese eat it.