JAPANESE ENJOY CALIFORNIA RICE
For Japanese who have travelled to California, they are amazed by the large number of sushi restaurants here. Japanese food is very popular, and you can buy sushi at many supermarkets. The Japanese citizens who live and travel here are impressed by the high quality of California rice used in these Japanese restaurants.
California has tried for many years to export its rice to Japan. In the last few years, Japan has bought some rice from California. However,very little of the rice actually is eaten by Japanese in Japan. Some of the rice is used in processed foods, or is given away to poor countries such as North Korea or Angola as part of Japan's foreign assistance program.
Many Japanese say that California rice does not taste as good as rice grown in Japan. However, the California rice is the koshihikari rice variety that is similar to that grown in Japan. A Japanese professor who teaches at a university in Northern California decided to conduct an experiment to determine if Japanese rice tastes better than California rice.
Professor Ken Chinen, who was born in Japan, is a professor at California State University in Sacramento, California. He conducted what is called a "blind taste test" with 161 Japanese citizens who are living in California. Almost all of these Japanese citizens said they prefer Japanese rice instead of California rice.
In this blind taste test, these Japanese citizens were given samples of cooked rice and were not told whether the rice was Japanese rice or California rice. Then they were asked whether the rice was Japanese or California rice.
40% of these 161 made a mistake and said the rice they tested was from Japan, when in fact, the rice was from California. In other words,almost half of the Japanese citizens could not tell the difference between California and Japanese rice.
Why is this important? California rice growers have tried to sell rice in Japan to consumers, but have not been successful. Rice growers must sell directly to the Japanese government. Most of the rice sold to the Japanese government is put in warehouses, then given away to poor countries. California rice growers want to sell rice to Japanese consumers so they can build a demand for their rice, just like Toyota sells cars in America.
Of course, Japan needs to produce its own rice so it can survive in an emergency situation. So the rice industry in Japan needs some protection. However, California rice is cheaper than Japanese rice, so the average Japanese citizen might enjoy California rice, while saving money.
The "Blind Taste Test" is a common technique in marketing. California wines were not famous until California wines were tested against French wines in 1976. A group of French wine experts, in a blind taste test, announced that the California wines tasted better than the French wines. Since then, the popularity of California wines has increased dramatically.
Perhaps in the future, more California rice will be sold in Japan. Until that time, please enjoy our rice the next time you come to California.
