Excerpt from Introduction

“ One of the healthiest around the globe today, the traditional Japanese diet is largely based on a variety of vegetables, rice, tofu, and fish. The fact that Japan has a bounty of fresh produce and seafood is in part due to its favorable location and geography as a collection of islands. Furthermore, rice is considered to be so elemental to the soul of Japanese cooking that "gohan", the word for rice, is synonymous with the word for meal. Until contemporary times, rice was also used as currency, and is thus central to almost every Japanese festival and religious ceremony. Sake, a wine made from fermented rice, is, in the religion of Shintoism, thought to be a sacred liquid with the ability to cleanse evil spirits. Finally, because farming and cultivating rice is largely a community effort and requires the effort of many people, rice cultivation is considered to have been instrumental in developing Japan’s national character. ”