おいしい米

 

Oishii Okome

That what it says on the brown paper. "Oishii Okome" and if you stay in Japan without knowing this simple word you might die of starvation. That writing means Yummy Rice.

The Japanese don't go about writing in two languages. You take it or leave it. This is their country, nobody has any right to tell them to write in any other language except their own Nippon-go.

Right, that is the rice I use. I like the packing, brown paper. True paper, not some indissoluble, non-biodegradable that will take up to 30 years to blend in with the soil. I keep those brown paper, they don't come easy nowadays.

You see the writing on the packing says "Okome". Rice in its original form is called kome or to say politely O-kome. But when you cooked it, it transforms into gohan. This means you don't go around saying "I finished my okome". That is very native and a big insult to the Japanese because they want to laugh in your face but due to the pressure of keeping polite, they have to keep that straight face. This kind of prevention into making a joke out of you is like a big insult to them.

Another thing about rice is that man says it in another way. Like going to the toilet. Men go their way and women go another way. Same with rice. Men says it "ku". But warning to the ladies, however manly you want to be, do not say "ku, ku'! The ladies saying it sound more like pigeons nesting their eggs.

There goes some Japanese language tip.

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