WA RICE
  • English
  • Tiếng Việt
  • ภาษา
  • 中文(簡体)
  • 中文(繁体)
Japanese Rice

What is WA RICE

  • APPEARANCE

    Each puffy kernel of freshly-cooked rice has a glossy shine and luster, and a pure white color reminiscent of powdered snow, features which work to stimulate the appetite.

  • AROMA

    When you open the rice cooker lid, a faint aroma from the freshly-cooked rice wafts through the air and delivers a feeling of comfort. The faint aroma never overpowers, never clashes with other components of the meal. In other words, rice simply harmonize well with all sorts of dishes.

  • SOFTNESS

    As you take a bite of rice, you’ll notice that the rice doesn’t feel overly sticky or chewy. The texture feels smooth on the tongue, while allowing you to enjoy a tender yet sufficiently sturdy consistency.

  • STICKINESS

    Rice stickiness enables perfect shaping into onigiri rice balls or sushi. The springy texture is delightful, and the delicious taste holds true even when the rice cools.

  • TASTE

    The more you chew, the more the sweetness and umami expand across the palate. Savor the delicious taste of this homegrown Japanese rice by taking time to chew and enjoy each bite thoroughly.

WA RICE is devotedly grown in Japan by craftsmen who imbue it with the time-honored spirit of “WA” (“harmony”). The shine and luster of freshly-cooked Japanese-grown rice creates a visual enjoyment, the comforting delicate aroma delights the sense of smell, a tactile pleasure emerges from the stickiness and soft texture of the rice on the palate.

Finally, your taste buds are stimulated by the sweetness and umami which expands throughout your mouth as you chew. As freshly-cooked rice appeals to the essential human senses of sight, smell, touch, and taste, enjoying rice on its own generates an ample taste treat.

QUALITY

  • image description

    Japanese-produced rice, is above all, characterized by its sweetness and umami when compared to other varieties. Simply steaming the kernels with water to create hot, plump white rice that is scrumptious enough to be eaten without seasoning or embellishments. Enjoying rice and accompanying dishes separately, rather than combining both in one bite as is the common habit, allows one to savor the flavors of each.

  • image description

    Cracked rice or rice that is scratched due to unsuccessful adjustments during milling allows starch to escape during the cooking process, leaving the rice overly sticky. (See the photo ※1) Milling factories remove as many damaged or overly-small rice grains as possible using sorters, and every attempt is made not to scratch rice through adjustments to the degree of milling. We encourage you to sample rice grown in Japan in order to savor the distinctive flavor not found anywhere elsewhere in the world.

A STORY OF RICE
IN JAPAN

To the Japanese people, rice is not just about filling a hungry stomach. Rather, it is a sacred food and It is reflected in traditional events based on the lifestyle and customs enjoying a long history in the nation. The people have cultivated a spirit of worship and respect for the abundant blessings of nature in Japan. These blessings are offset by occasional misfortunes such as floods and unnaturally cool summers. Famines due to rice crop failures from cold-weather damage have been recorded time and again in the nation’s history. Japanese have long studied selective breeding and cultivation methods aimed at adjusting rice growing to the seasons, the climates, and the regions of Japan in response to Mother Nature’s profound power. Citizens sense the hand of deities in the providence of nature, and have historically prayed for favorable rice harvests throughout the land, hosting traditional festivals across the nation in gratitude and celebration of each year’s fruitful yield.

image desc

In Inner Noto, Ishikawa Prefecture, an annual folk tradition is held to honor and thank regional deities for abundant crops, at which time these unseen gods are invited into the homes of the people and offered a bath and meal. After the harvest, the gods of the rice fields are welcomed and thanked. Upon “spending the winter” with these gods, the people pray for another good harvest prior to the spring rice-planting, at which time the gods are sent off.

SEE MORE IN WEBSITE
image desc
image desc
Photo credit: Municipal office, Noto town

The Japanese language refers to cooked rice as “gohan,” a word which also signifies an entire meal. This “gohan,” sacred to the Japanese, commands the starring role in washoku (Japanese) cuisine, but also serves as an outstanding and irreplaceable supporting role. This piping-hot and glossy rice combines with a rich variety of seasonal and local fresh vegetables, seafood, seaweed, and other ingredients to create washoku, representing the nutritionally-balanced, ideal food culture. Seasonings such as soy sauce, miso, and mirin (sweet cooking wine) which are indispensable to washoku are all made from rice, as is sake.

In December 2013, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) registered washoku on its Intangible Cultural Heritage list, ensuring recognition of this outstanding food culture throughout the world. From here on, as global citizens get to know and adore washoku, they will also fall in love with its central player… WA RICE

image description
image description

HOW JAPANESE RICE IS GROWN

  • image description
    March to April: seedling development

    Many countries use the direct plantation method for rice, planting seed rice in paddies by hand or using Cessna aircraft. But in Japan, we first create seedlings and then trans-plant those seedlings in rice paddies. This method minimizes weed influence, allows uniform development, and helps ensure stabilized quality.

  • image description
    April to May: rice trans-planting

    Seedlings are planted once rice paddies are readied by tilling, ploughing, and irrigating. The young plants were once placed individually by hand, but nowadays, the work is done by machine.

  • image description
    August: blooming

    Ine-no-hana, or rice flowers, bloom in summer. These wonderfully precious flowers can only be seen for about two hours during the rice plant’s entire growth period.

  • image description
    September to October: harvesting

    In autumn, the rice plant attains a brilliant honey-colored shade, the ears ripen one by one, and the time for harvest arrives. In the past, plants were cut with a sickle and threshed by hand, but these days, both jobs are performed by combines harvester simultaneously.

  • image description
    Drying

    Freshly-harvested rice husks contain substantial moisture but are quickly dried because if left on their own to dry, they will become moldy and the quality will deteriorate. In olden times, wood and bamboo were used to create a stand on which husks were left to dry, but nowadays, machines (dryers) are usually employed. A few areas in Japan still uphold the traditional method of drying on wooden stands.

  • image description
    Milling

    Brown (unmilled) rice is transported from production areas to milling factories where the kernels are milled. In Japan, milling is done by machine to achieve consistent quality and sanitation control. Care is taken to achieve perfectly milled rice; the grains are neither damaged by over-milling, nor left under-milling and smelling of rice bran.

    This ideal degree of milling also maintains the quality which withdraws the best flavor from the rice. The workshops are also where rice undergoes multiple stages of sorting to remove foreign matters such as pebbles, glass, and metal, not to mention cracked or colored grains, producing milled rice of uniform quality.

Founded in 1882, Kitoku Shinryo enjoys a long history. The company is an established wholesale merchandising firm which has been dealing with rice for over 130 years. The firm’s shares have been listed on JASDAQ (now JASDAQ Securities Exchange) since 2001. As a major Japanese firm, Kitoku Shinryo handles over 400,000 tons of rice annually, distributing across Japan as well as the globe.

image description The founder
Tokubei Kimura, the second
image description