Tokyo Subway...
Rice Culture
Japanese do not grow wheat but rice.
Japanese eat rice as rice is the staple food for the Japanese people. Of course, Japanese grow or import some wheat to make bread for domestic consumption. Japanese eat noodles very often, too. But rice has been the staple food in Japan for 2000 years and more. The Japanese culture is based on rice farming originally. Some of the most important rituals the Emperor conducts are related to rice cropping.
Most of agriculture fields in Japan are basically paddy fields where rice is grown. Rice fields are covered by water from spring to summer but get dry after harvest in autumn and winter in Japan. In northern regions of Japan, they are covered by snow in winter.
So, the big difference between Japan and Europe is the staple foods, rice or wheat. Yet, Japan is not alone in consuming rice. For example, China consumes 17 times more rice than the Japanese eat per year, as China has 10 times more population than Japan.
Rice Consumption
Unit: Kilo tons | 2007/08 | 2008/09 | 2009/10 | 2010/11 | 2011/12 |
China | 127,450 | 133,000 | 134,320 | 135,000 | 136,500 |
India | 90,466 | 91,090 | 85,690 | 91,000 | 93,000 |
Indonesia | 36,350 | 37,100 | 38,000 | 38,850 | 39,140 |
Bangladesh | 30,747 | 31,000 | 31,600 | 33,700 | 34,000 |
Vietnam | 19,400 | 19,000 | 19,150 | 19,300 | 19,550 |
Philippines | 13,499 | 13,100 | 13,300 | 13,325 | 13,350 |
Thailand | 9,600 | 9,500 | 10,200 | 10,750 | 11,000 |
Myanmar | 10,249 | 9,648 | 9,850 | 10,150 | 10,250 |
Brazil | 8,350 | 8,400 | 8,400 | 8,400 | 8,400 |
JAPAN | 8,177 | 8,326 | 8,200 | 8,125 | 8,250 |
Korea | 4,670 | 4,788 | 4,760 | 4,797 | 4,800 |
Nigeria | 3,910 | 4,100 | 4,450 | 4,570 | 4,650 |
Cambodia | 3,788 | 3,770 | 3,810 | 4,020 | 4,220 |
USA | 4,042 | 4,082 | 4,015 | 4,195 | 4,017 |
Egypt | 3,340 | 4,000 | 3,670 | 3,400 | 3,600 |
Pakistan | 2,718 | 3,490 | 2,915 | 2,850 | 3,200 |
But you cannot export rice to Japan. Virtually no significant amount of rice is imported to Japan. The virtual tariff duty imposed on imported rice is 778%. The Japanese rice-producing farmers are heavily protected by the Japanese government, though most of them are farmers with a side job.
Yet, if Japan joins TPP (Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement), it is expected that a tariff rate of rice will be removed or decreased to 0%. This cannot be accepted by Japanese farmers and those who love the Japanese culture and traditions.
Refer to a Japanese rice farmer's video clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY3j2uU9jwk
(to be continued...)
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Mar 11:4 And they went their way, and found the colt tied by the door without in a place where two ways met; and they loose him.
Mar 11:5 And certain of them that stood there said unto them, What do ye, loosing the colt?
Mar 11:6 And they said unto them even as Jesus had commanded: and they let them go.