The First to Eat the New Rice
One of the first places Higashikawa's new rice arrives is the school lunch kitchen.
One morning in October, this year's new rice goes into the rice cooker in the school lunch kitchen. "On new-rice day, I change the water amount. And I make one side dish plainer," says the cook. "Because it's the day the rice is the star."
Higashikawa's children grow up eating local rice raised on local water as if it were nothing special. "You only learn it isn't normal once you leave. That was me. Coming back and working in this kitchen is probably because of that."
On new-rice day, I make one side dish plainer. Because it's the day the rice is the star.
At lunchtime, she says, there are no particular cheers from the classrooms. "Most kids don't notice. But the line for seconds is longer than usual." That's how the harvest gets handed out — quietly.
