April 28, 2018
Wheat ripening, summer just around the corner in Japan
Green wheat fields spread in many parts of Japan, telling people that summer is just around the corner. Rice is Japan's staple food, but wheat has also been favored over years mainly as an ingredient of noodles.
Domestically grown wheat draws attention for use to other new purposes, notably bread making, as many Japanese people have come to favor bread meals.
Japanese people's food life has been westernized in recent decades. As a result, domestic rice consumption has been on the decline. In turn, wheat consumption has been growing year on year, with breads favored rather than cooked rice.Domestic wheat had been little used by Japanese bread makers, however, because of its poor protein content, higher prices and limited lots. But the problem has been cleared in recent years, with new species of wheat domestically developed for bread making.
Japan's wheat self-sufficiency rate is 13 to 14 percent, against domestic wheat demand estimated at 6.3 million tons.
Imported wheat is entirely bought by the government and then, the government sells the imports to domestic flour makers at regularly set prices. Meanwhile, domestically grown wheat is distributed basically through commercial vendors, freed from the country's food management system.A government-set target calls for increasing domestic wheat production to 1.8 million tons from about 770,000 tons at present by 2020, while supporting efforts to develop more new species and encouraging consumption of domestic products. The move comes at a time when Japanese people are becoming more aware of the importance of food security.
Bakers using domestic wheat are still limited, but the number is gradually increasing. As a reason for this change, some bakers mention that there is no fear of post-harvest chemicals used for domestically made wheat and flour.
Two crops can be grown in Kyushu and other regions of southwestern Japan, wheat late spring and rice from summer to autumn.In the northern part of Kyushu, wheat turns brown to be harvested toward May and weeks later, work starts to bring in water there to make rice paddies.
The beginning of summer, "rikka" in Japanese, on the agricultural calendar falls on around May 6. The day of rikka represents the middle point of the vernal equinox and the summer solstice.Japanese farmers have prayed for a rich harvest of the five grains--rice, wheat, millet, barnyard and bean--since the old times.
Rice is the most important of the grains, but wheat also has played an important role as a key buffer crop when a poor rice harvest is to be endured. Wheat should be more important than ever to support Japanese people's food life from now on.
