October 24, 2010

Koshihikari Rice Made by Fifth Graders/五年生が作ったコシヒカリ

This is no ordinary rice.
これはただの普通のお米ではありません。

It's Koshihikari rice made by the fifth graders of my daughter's elementary school. Every year, the fifth graders are assigned the work of cultivating rice as part of their school curriculum. And, at the cultural festival held in autumn, the fifth graders sell their rice. This year, the price was 400 yen a bag (which contains 5 go (or 5 x 140 = 700 g) of rice).
娘が通う小学校の五年生が作ったコシヒカリです。毎年、五年生が学校のカリキュラムの一部として米作りをするという作業を担当します。そして、秋に行われる文化祭で、五年生は自分たちのお米を売ります。今年は価格は一袋(5合、つまり5 x 140 = 700 g)400円。

Just cooked rice:
炊き立てのご飯:

If you happen to be a Japanese, you will drool over this photo:
日本人だとしたら、この写真を見て、よだれをたらすでしょう。

A bit of a lecture on Japanese words related to rice:
Rice as a plant is ine;
rice as a grain (uncooked) is okome or kome; and
rice as a meal (cooked) is gohan.
The term gohan is often used to mean shokuji (meal), reflecting the importance of rice in a meal in Japanese cuisine.
riceに関する日本語についてちょっと講釈:
植物としてのriceは稲(いね)、
穀物としての(料理していない)riceはお米(おこめ)または米(こめ)、
食事としての(調理した)riceはご飯(ごはん)。
日本食でのお米の重要性を反映し、ご飯という言葉はよく「食事」を意味するのに使われます。

4 comments:

Tzu-yen said...

Wish primary school here was this fun!

Hiroyuki said...

Tzu-yen: Yes, the pupils do enjoy activities outside of school.

CFT said...

Same differentiation of rice in Chinese food culture too. I wonder if it also applies to other SE Asian cultures?

Hiroyuki said...

Chee Fai: I can't answer your question, but I know that in some other Asian countries, rice is synonymous with meal and that no meal is complete without rice.