Although U.S. students usually learn about rice during their study of Japan, the coverage is often quite limited. Typical textbook treatment focuses on rice as food, on rice growing as an occupation, and on terracing as a geographic accommodation. Little mention is made of the intrinsic position of rice in Japanese culture. Contemporary media coverage of rice as a trade topic also contains serious omissions. Headlines focus on the fact that the average Japanese consumer pays an average of five times more for rice than the average U.S. consumer.
Rice is treated as strictly an economic or consumer topic.
However, behind the narrow textbook treatment and economically-driven media conclusions is the concept of rice in its cultural context. A Deeply Embedded Cultural Concept Rice is so important in Japanese society that it has been called the essence of the culture. Even a superficial examination of Japanese culture reveals the complex connection rice has to many of its forms and expressions, in both historical and contemporary settings. Historically, wet rice cultivation was a labor-intensive task that could not be accomplished easily. As a result, families pooled their labor.