Historical Background

Rice farming has been a part of Japanese life since the late Jomon period(2470-500 BCE). It is theorized that wet rice farming technology was imported into Japan from either the Korean Peninsula or Southeast Asia. Rice cultivation started in the South of Japan, in Kyushu, and gradually spread northward. Thus, Japanese civilization changed from hunting and gathering to agriculture. Rice cultivation is very labor intensive, and requires the cooperation of a great many people. Because of this, Japanese society evolved around these communities of rice farmers. 

During the Edo period, rice played a crucial role in the development of the economy. Wealth was determined by the amount of rice a family owned. The feudal lords of the time were taxed by the ruling body, the Tokugawa Shogunate, in the form of rice. The samurai working received their salary in rice, not currency. The excess rice not eaten was then sold or traded for other goods. Thus, rice was for early banks and eased the transition to a currency based economy. 

Until the Meiji Era(1868-1912) only the upper class were able to eat white rice, which required the labor-intensive process of removing the rice bran from the rice. The lower classes of society subsisted on brown rice and other forms of staple foods like wheat, millet, and potatoes. However, during the Meiji period, the industrialization of rice farming made white rice accessible to the lower classes for the first time. White rice became scarce again during World War 2 because of harsh rationing. During the American occupation of Japan, wheat flooded in from U.S. influences and aid. After the occupation, in the 1970s, the Japanese government and various rice farming interest groups campaigned for a return of rice into the diet. 

Today, the Japanese government still holds high tariffs on the import of rice from other countries into Japan to protect the shrinking rice farming industry. The amount of rice consumption had also decreased because of the overall shrinking population of Japan. Nevertheless, rice still remains an important and integral part of Japanese life.