Japanese rice

Japanese rice refers to a number of short-grain cultivars of Japonica rice including ordinary rice (uruchimai) and glutinous rice (mochigome).

Ordinary Japanese rice, or uruchimai (粳米) is the staple of the Japanese diet and consists of short translucent grains. When cooked it has a sticky texture such that it can easily be picked up and eaten with chopsticks. Outside Japan it is sometimes labeled sushi rice, as this is one of its common uses. It is also used to produce sake.

Glutinous rice, known in Japan as mochigome (もち米), is used for making mochi (餅) and special dishes such as sekihan. It is a short-grain rice, and can be distinguished from uruchimai by its particularly short, round and opaque grains, its greater stickiness when cooked, and firmer and chewier texture.

Cultivation

Contemporary cultivation of rice in Japan is characterized by high mechanization, intense cultivation, and a shortage of farmland. Terraced rice fields cover many rural hillsides and are relatively small due to mountainous terrain and government controls on farmland consolidation.