Rice Japanese Culture

The Impact of Rice on Japanese Identity

The aim of this essay is to explore how Rice is connected to the production of Japanese culture and society. I will argue, following Bourdieu, that Japanese culture and religious beliefs have been shaped and defined by their staple food; Rice. The essay will also discuss the impact of rice on Japanese morals and Japanese society as a whole. The demographics that this essay will concentrate on are; the influence rice plays in the Japanese religion; Shinto, and how the very nature of Japan’s spiritualism is in direct correlation with the use of rice in their society.

“It’s impossible to overstate the importance of rice to the Japanese: the countries origins are rooted in the stuff” (McCurry, 2011)

Historians

“Even more than other cereals, rice has profoundly influenced the societies which live on it - that is, so long as they have co-existed for centuries” (Toussaint-Samat, 1993). This introduction of rice saw farming families forming villages, which in turn became a tight-knit group that was to form the beginnings of distinct societal units that is still prevalent in Japan today (Vairley, 2000). Researchers today believe that due to the labour intensive practice of rice cultivation all members of a community were required to participate in the process of rice farming. Those who refused to participate in this collective co-operation were ostracised and shunned and their families also suffered the ignominy of being excluded from the community. This practice of shunning came to be known as “murahachibiri” and its remnants still linger in modern Japan as we know it. A well-known saying in Japan lays particular emphasis on the thought processes of the Japanese,” the nail that sticks up will be hammered

Co-operation takes the focus away from individuals and creates a community that depends on the harmony of society, and removes the emphasis on individualism (Henry, 2013) which has directly influenced the culture of Japan we see today, hard workers that focus on the group rather than individual prowess. Although the factor of rice this essay has discussed may seem minimal, its importance has been a major factor in moulding Japanese society to what is seen today and although this has meant a suppression of individualism, to try and alter the “system” in order to increase Japanese individualism is futile ,as this would mean that Japanese society, tradition and religious beliefs would need to be altered drastically and this would entail “ stepping outside the square” which in Japan is such a faux pas that it seems a futile exercise. Farming in Japan bought rice, which in turn became the symbol of a bond between the Japanese people and Kami which enhanced the Shinto religious traditions that have enriched the Japanese collective culture. If taken in this context we can see that rice has become Japans spiritual connection with the spiritual world, nature and society (Demetriou,