Total time: 1hr to 2hr

Difficulty: Requires a certain dexterity

are preceded by the prefix "o," often added to things worthy of respect. This usage is a sign of the special, in fact almost sacred, status that has been accorded to rice since ancient times. Even today, many Japanese are horrified at the thought of wasting rice.

Archeologists think that rice was first grown in Japan more than 2000 years ago. During the medieval period, when land taxes were calculated and collected in the form of a set quantity of rice, this cereal acquired a special status as currency in the fledgling national economy.

Rice is grown through southeast Asia and in other regions that are warmer than most of Japan. Adapting rice-growing to a relatively short growing season required careful preparation, and beginning in the 18th century Japanese farmers began developing new, more cold-resistant rice varieties.

They came up with the idea of using wild ducks in the rice paddies. The birds would rid the rice fields both of weeds and insects, while their droppings fertilized the soil. Furthermore, the ducks would swim on the surface of the rice paddies throughout the year, and their coming and going improved irrigation, separated the plants and ensured their vigour.

Ancient beliefs, expressed through numerous rituals, reveal rice's mythic powers. For instance, in order to purify a plot of land before building a house, rice grains are scattered to chase away evil spirits. The special place given to rice in dishes served at wedding and funeral ceremonies is based on the belief that rice makes rebirth possible. It was formerly thought that o-nigin, balls of cooked rice carried since ancient times as a snack and still popular today with hikers and travellers, held powerful spiritual forces and symbolized the shape of the soul, which is why rice balls are often placed on personal altars and in sanctuaries as offerings to the gods. Even rice straw seems to hold a spiritual power. When twisted into rope, it is used to decorate sanctuaries and to fashion ritual ornaments and accessories.

Rice and the Japanese mind
A proverb says that the richer its grain, the more the rice bends its head. As the stalk ripens, the end of the stem bends under its weight. The proverb suggests the greater a man's power, the more humility he should show towards others.

It is no coincidence that rice is related to humility. Humility, self-effacement and willingness to yield are traditional Japanese virtues and seem to correspond to certain traits of the Japanese character: the desire to avoid confrontation and to achieve consensus, though these sometimes carry a price in the form of unresolved disagreements. In today's international community, such behaviour risks being seen as indecision and is sometimes criticized as evasiveness.

Such traits could well be the result of many centuries of efforts aimed at establishing the stable human relations necessary for rice-growing, which requires a large workforce. In villages where everyone's survival depended on cooperation in order to carry out the shared work of irrigation and cultivating low-yield parcels of land year after year, self-abasement was an honoured value, while self-affirmation was a risk that could not be allowed. Thus individual rights and opinions were subjugated to the common good.

More than a simple foodstuff
Curiously, despite the central role that rice has played in Japanese culture since ancient times, it would not become the basic food grain of the average citizen until the early decades of the twentieth-century. Throughout the greatest part of Japan's history, rice was so precious that only members of the aristocracy, rich merchants and warriors were able to eat it on a regular basis. The majority of people, including farmers, ate barley or millet, reserving rice for special occasions.

The traditional respect accorded to rice has both a practical as well as a mystical side. The belief that rice is a unique source of vital energy has been confirmed by scientific discoveries showing that it is an almost perfect source of food, with an ideal balance of proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates. The germ and the bran, though often removed during polishing, are rich in vitamins (particularly B1), minerals, fibre and enzymes. Such discoveries have caused a renewed interest in rice as the key to a healthy diet.

Growing Rice
In Japan, in the village of Hakuba in the prefecture of Nagano, at the first signs of spring and as the snow begins to melt, the contrast of black and white on the mountainsides creates various shapes that tell farmers it is time to start cultivating the land. When the shape of a large white horse appears near the peak of Mount Habuka, it is time to plant the rice. The rice is harvested in September and October.