Yeah, their imperviousness to either progress or consequences is kind of incredible. An entire nation of collectivist, rule-following tendencies with a scummy layer of cartoonishly evil folks at the top, who for some reason seem immune from having to be decent people.
And yet, somehow, it's a generally pleasant country to live in with happy healthy people and opportunity. Though, that momentum Japan's been running on seems to be running out.
What I want to know is, what's happening to all the Australian rice they do import? Are the statistics lumping all varieties together, are we only selling them Basmati?
The agricultural minister went on TV and ate rice from one and two years ago from the stockpile and reported they were all delicious. People were _maaaaaaaaad_.
Yes, it is, and no, it's very much to the Japanese taste.
There's no absence of non-rice main meals in Japan; Wafu pasta is an entire category of Japanese pasta dishes whose name literally means Japanese Style Pasta. Udon, Ramen and Soba abound, and Kansai in particular has a large number of Konamon, flour-based meals and snacks (resulting from Allied food aid after the bombings).
In some ways, the reaction to suggestions of swapping out rice are like that redneck uncle of yours who is mad his Cardiologist told him to cut down on red meat because "what else am I supposed to eat?!" even though his wife does all the cooking and they already have pork/chicken/fish 3 nights out of 7. It's an identity thing; in some ways to eat rice is to _be_ Japanese.
Yeah, I've seen a fair amount of "but what will we eat?!" Netsuke-clutching and like... Y'all already have a trend towards bread for breakfast and you love your wafu pasta. Do that a couple of times a week.
But it's Japan, so I imagine there's plenty of Showa who think all change is to be valiently fought and that not eating rice prevents you from being "proper" Japanese.
I'm not sure tarrifs have a huge impact; Japan is Australia's largest buyer of rice, importing $63.8MUSD worth in 2023 per the OEC: https://oec.world/en/profile/bilateral-product/rice/reporter.... That's a lot of rice to buy, if it's more expensive and less desirable then domestic rice.
> The government imports 770,000 tons of rice tariff-free annually under its minimum access quota, and places up to 100,000 tons of that up for auction. Private-sector imports, which are separate from that framework, are subject to a tariff of 341 yen ($2.35) per kilogram, a measure intended to protect domestic producers. [1]
Since 1995 Japan has been forced by the WTO to import a certain amount of rice tariff-free every year. Much of it doesn't even go to Japanese consumers, but rather to animal feed and strategic reserves. Prior to 2024, virtually all imported rice in Japan was imported to satisfy this requirement. Presumably that also includes the $63M of rice imported from Australia in 2023.
The tariffs do indeed have a massive impact, and until recently it was very difficult for consumers to even find imported rice in supermarkets.
It's interesting to me that no-one is talking about steel frames, which are becoming something of a standard in Australia, mainly because they share some of the advantages of both constructions styles.
A Steel framed, clad house can be constructed relatively quickly, but is also durable. Alterations aren't as easy as with wood, but are significantly easier then concrete.
With modern insulations and soundproofing, you can have a lot of the benefits of concrete or stone. Plus, there's less thermal mass in the structure, which is a big advantage when building in Australia; Your primary challenge is keeping the inside cool in Summer.
