{"id":72241,"date":"2025-06-11T09:37:26","date_gmt":"2025-06-11T00:37:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2025\/jun\/11\/against-the-grain-as-prices-and-temperatures-rise-can-japan-learn-to-love-imported-rice"},"modified":"2025-06-11T09:37:26","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T00:37:26","slug":"against-the-grain-as-prices-and-temperatures-rise-can-japan-learn-to-love-imported-rice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eastasianews.net\/wp\/?p=72241","title":{"rendered":"Against the grain: as prices and temperatures rise, can Japan learn to love imported rice?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The political and cultural insulation of Japan\u2019s beloved grain is falling apart, and experts warn the country\u2019s relationship with the staple will have to adapt<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s cheap, filling and a time-honoured way for office workers to calm their hunger pangs. Lunchtime diners at fast-food restaurants in central Tokyo are here for one thing: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/lifeandstyle\/2018\/feb\/08\/six-of-the-best-rice-bowls-japanese-tim-anderson-nanban\">gyudon<\/a> \u2013 thinly sliced beef and onions on rice. The topping is rich and moreish, but it\u2019s the stickiness of the plump japonica grains beneath that make this one of Japan\u2019s best-loved comfort foods.<\/p>\n<p>Rice cultivation in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/japan\">Japan<\/a> stretches back thousands of years. In the Edo period (1603-1868), a meal for most people meant a simple bowl of unpolished grain, while members of the samurai class measured their wealth in rice bales.<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2025\/jun\/11\/against-the-grain-as-prices-and-temperatures-rise-can-japan-learn-to-love-imported-rice\">Continue reading&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The political and cultural insulation of Japan\u2019s beloved grain is falling apart, and experts warn the country\u2019s relationship with the staple will have to adaptIt\u2019s cheap, filling and a time-honoured way for office workers to calm their hunger pangs. Lu&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":151,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sns_share_botton_hide":"","vkExUnit_sns_title":"","_vk_print_noindex":"","sitemap_hide":"","_veu_custom_css":"","veu_display_promotion_alert":"","vkexunit_cta_each_option":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[41,2331,311,88,42],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-asia-pacific","category-climate-crisis","category-food","category-japan","category-world-news"],"veu_head_title_object":{"title":"","add_site_title":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eastasianews.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eastasianews.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eastasianews.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eastasianews.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/151"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eastasianews.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=72241"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eastasianews.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72242,"href":"https:\/\/eastasianews.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72241\/revisions\/72242"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eastasianews.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=72241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eastasianews.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=72241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eastasianews.net\/wp\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=72241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}