The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-08-25
JApans Dependence on Rice.

Those who have been surprised that
people so orderly as the japanese
should come to riot over the rice sup
ply should remember that there Is no
food in America exactly analogous In
national demand to the rice of the
japanese. We speak Of wheat bread
as our staff Of life, but we do not
lean on 1t rs the japanese lean on
rice. When our white -four was shut
or we turned with ease to other
grains, for we make meats and veg
etables the most important part of
our diet. This the japanese have not
done. They have not even tried to
make wheat. the grain Of the world
at large, share the burden of their
sacred rice.
A Japanese workingman will eat in
year five and one-third bushels of
rice and little less than bushel of
barley; 200 pounds of radishes, 100
pounds Of potatoes. 90 pounds Of fish.
a dozen or two Of eggs, 80 pounds of
fruit and only three pounds of meat.
Meat and bread, the mainstays Of the
Occidental, are practically strangers
to the japanese.
1t is common mistake to suppose
that the japanese eats rice because il
Is all he can get In the way Of grain.
lie eats 1t because he likes 1t, Just
as the American eats wheat bread. In
Japan 1t Is a sign Of poverty to eat
grains other than rice. In the pros
porous cities rice is eaten straight:
In the rural districts large quantities
OF barley are mixed with the rice.
Our American rice is not good
enough for the japanese Of moderate
means. 1t shares with the rices of
india and China the name Of "for.
eign Rice" term implying poor quail
ity. Foreign rice sells in JAPAN at
price lower than the native rice, and
only the poor will eat 1t. What is
considered good rice In Japan is that
which is grown in the main and the
southern islands. The product of the
fields In Formosa and Corea will not
do for the well to do persons.
Americans are likely TO think of the
rice OF the Orient us cheap product.
The cost of its production. says DR..
koKIoHI MoRIMoTo, associate profess
sor OF economies In Tohuku Imperial
University, Is greater than that of
wheat. for the reason that large scale
machine cultivation. such as Is COM
mon in wheat countries. cannot be ap-
piled to the wet rice fields. Rice cul.
ture Is a matter of human labor. and
that means high price.
Another point made by DR.. MoRr.
MOTTO, who has been advising his
countrymen to use wheat as well as
rice when the worlds wheat supply
will permit Of It. is that the cost of
preparing rice for the table Is high.
In hts treatise on 1.-THE Standard of
Living In Japan" published this veal
by the Johns Hopkins Press, he SAYS ::
"A bread diet can be prepared more
cheaply than a rice diet. The prepare.
ton OF the latter requires moro time
and labor than the former In the or
binary household a maidservant, whose
chief duty is to make boiled rice Mt
least once or twice day, must be
hired She Is rightly called in Japa-
nese the meshitaki-onna. meaning girl
to cook boiled rice"
The American housewife sends TO
the bakery for loaves, but the Japa.
nese madam must do her own cook.
Ing or hire 1t done. Cooperative rice
kitchens have been tried in japanese
cities, but they were failure. The
rice was not kept warm enough to
suit the customers.