Did the feudal Japanese eat rice?

While some may think the answer is an obvious ‘yes’, the answer itself is a little nuanced. Rice in various forms was eaten, though it was also a method of tax and therefore could not be used solely as a food source on its own. For example, koku was a measurement of rice based on what was deemed enough to feed one man for a year (eg: 1 Koku). Glutinous rice existed, though this was usually reserved for special festivals. Great examples of this are the Japanese mochi, sweets made out of cooked, mashed and pounded sticky rice.

In regards to the realm of Tosa, we are given a couple different definitions of rice, albeit from the Chosokabe clan. The laws from Chosokabe Motochika passed on the  24th of March, 1597 (The 100 Article Code of Chosokabe Motochika), specifically points 55 and 59, differentiate from ‘hulled/unhulled rice’ in regards to wages - wages most commonly paid with the latter, while annual taxes (nengu) are to be paid with hulled rice. Point 55 also introduces the following terms to describe different types of rice, kichimai and taimai. While kichimai seems to refer to the ‘good top rice’ or the better quality rice, likely the shorter stickier rice grains more common to what we see today in Japan, taimai seems to refer to long grain rice.

Curiously, this rice was cheaper, hardier, though inferior in taste, which leads one to believe that this was likely the more common form of rice that was actively consumed by the majority of the populace. Itani and Ogawa (2004, pg137) from the Hiroshima Prefectural University explain that long grain rice, while inferior in taste and therefore cheaper in value, had an advantage in that it was "cultivated extensively in the central and southwestern part of Japan for its early ripening, drought resistance, insect resistance and high yield”. In addition, a Korean envoy’s/visitor’s travel account quoted in modern surveys mentions soldiers being supplied lower quality long-grain/red rice around Nagoya, which is particularly pertinent for us as we are based in Kiyosu which is its immediate proximal north (JATAFF, n.d.). Specifically, in the Kōrin Kiko/交隣紀行 (1592-1593), the emissary, Hwang Sin, states that the soldiers were: 

“eating red rice, shaped like buckwheat (kubuaku) and coloured like sorghum—almost unbearable in taste. It must be the very worst kind of rice.” (Ibid). 

All of this would likely explain why Lord Motochika states in article 55 that “The decision to plant taimai or kichimai rice will depend upon the soil. Planting taimai on soil more suitable to kichimai is strictly prohibited. If this order is violated the tax will be collected at the kichimai rate.” (Chosokabe Motochika, Trans. Thomas D. Conlan. pg254). This hints at the fact that not only are certain soil types more preferable for kichimai, but also that this may have been an extra hurdle to cover in addition to financial budgets.

Rice as a grain-based food required constant water, so much so that it seems some farmers caught very small rice paddy-dwelling fish that could be used to make broth or to have on the side with the main meal. Not all areas have the same access to water and, therefore, various other grains were cultivated and eaten. Some of these other grains included buckwheat, wheat, millet, and barley, with slight variation depending on where you lived in Japan. 

There is a bit of a misconception that only brown rice was eaten. While, indeed, the white polished rice we know today would be a bit anachronistic to the period, brown rice on its own as you can find on our modern shelves is not much better. Brown rice is rice that has been hulled while retaining the entire bran of the grain, which was almost impossible to do with the technology of the period. In addition, properly cooking this rice using only the heat of a fire would have taken a significant amount of time and used a larger amount of fuel, further emphasising the unlikelihood of brown rice being a choice at this time. In contrast, the hulling technique of the time partially hulled the rice using a form of pounding mallet and, as a result, part of the bran was removed too or entirely removed. This led to a rice that was neither fully brown or white. 

Our retinue is based in Kiyosu, Owari province, and was known for growing rice, barley, salt harvesting, and also fish from the coast around the port town in the Nagoya area. Unfortunately for us, a Korean emmissary in 1592-1593 in his diary (Kōrin Kiko/交隣紀行) had a very low opinion of the military rations in the Nagoya region of Owari:

“eating red rice, shaped like buckwheat (kubuaku) and coloured like sorghum—almost unbearable in taste. It must be the very worst kind of rice.” (Ibid).  As a result, we have developed a historically accurate interpretation of a grain-based ration for troops: a mix of our white and brown rice (3:1 or 3:2) and barley, possibly including salt to help preserve it in the field and for seasoning. To make this even closer, at least according to Hwang Sin, the rice should be almost exclusively long grain rice of cheap quality. It is difficult to know for sure exactly what this rice would have looked like in its entirety, but the documentation reveals something that would very likely match what we have here, albeit with longer grain rice (we did not have this information at the time when we developed this interpretation).

Note the variety of grains.

Reference: 

 I., Naomichi. (2001). The History and Culture of Japanese Food. New York, USA: Routledge. JATAFF. (n.d.). The story of long grain rice. Retrieved from: https://www.jataff.or.jp/yomoyama/KOME.HTM?utm.

Various Authors. (Trans. TD., Conlan. 2022). Samurai and the Warrior Culture of Japan, 471-1877: A sourcebook. Indianapolis: USA, Hackett Publishing.