Rice is the staple of the Japanese diet, even to this day. However, because of the diversification of eating habits today, opinion is now divided as to whether or not rice still plays the "main role" at meals.
Rice can be classified into two major categories: the short-grained Japonica and the long-grained Indica. Samples of both varieties have been placed inside the time capsule, along with samples of the glutinous mochi rice, a variety also grown in Japan.
It is safe to say that, to Japanese people in 1970, who had practically never had the opportunity to taste Indica rice, the term "rice" referred only to the Japonica variety. It would have seemed unimaginable to them that, a quarter of a century later, an uproar would be created over a shortage of domestic rice, or that they would find themselves eating a blend of Japonica and Indica rice.
In global terms, people who eat just rice boiled in water are in the minority. It is far more common to cook rice together with fruit, to simmer it in milk with sprinkled chocolate on top, or to prepare it in other ways that would be unthinkable to the Japanese.

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