ABSTRACT
Why are the Japanese so sensitive about rice? Why is rice treated as holy in Japan? Why can't the Japanese consider rice simply a market commodity? We can find answers to these questions in the post-16th century social and economic history of Japan. Since 1968, the beginning of rice overproduction, the sense of "free from rice" has been gradually growing among farmers and the nation as a whole. Furthermore, the concept of agriculture in Japan is changing rapidly and as a result the Japanese are for the first time confronting the rice issue.
