Grains ── Rice varieties
Hitomebore
a cold-hardy Koshihikari relative from Miyagi
A cold-hardy Koshihikari relative with a light taste, said to have been advanced in earnest by Miyagi after the record cold-damage harvest of 1991. Now grown well beyond Miyagi, reportedly across Tohoku and the Kanto region as well.
Lineage
What it's made of
Said to carry Koshihikari's firm stickiness and umami with a lighter finish behind it. Cooked soft, it's said to stay tasty when cooled, with a taste said to be rated 'strongly sticky and excellent'. Its grain thickness is kept to a standard of 1.9 millimeters or more. Freshly cooked, it's also said to carry a rich aroma, with each grain giving a notably plump impression.
How it's made
Said to have been crossed in 1982 at Miyagi's Furukawa Agricultural Experiment Station from Koshihikari and 'Hatsuboshi', bred to inherit cold tolerance. Given the local line name 'Tohoku 143' in 1987, its cold hardiness was tested in the record-cool summer of 1988, and the variety was registered in 1991. Adopted as a recommended variety not just in Miyagi but across other Tohoku prefectures as well, it's said to be counted among eastern Japan's leading rice varieties.
Why it took this shape
The record cold-damage harvest of 1993 hit Tohoku rice farming hard, but Hitomebore is said to have held up thanks to that cold tolerance, an effect once valued at roughly 25 billion yen. Sasanishiki, prized for its light taste, proved vulnerable to cold and saw acreage fall sharply; Miyagi is said to have shifted toward this hardier variety instead, and it later spread across Tohoku and into the Kanto region.
Before you go
- Foods to look for in autumnA guide to foods often seen in Japan around autumn — returning bonito, Pacific saury, new-crop rice, matsutake, chestnuts, and tsukimi dango — with rough pointers for finding them.
- Regional harvest food festivalsAcross Japan, harvest festivals and "taste festivals" featuring local produce and seafood are said to be commonly held each autumn, with stalls selling new rice, seasonal fruit, and local dishes.
Dishes in the same style
- AkamaiAn ancient category of rice said to carry a reddish bran layer; low-yielding but tied, it's said, to Shinto harvest rituals still kept at shrines like those on Tsushima. Traces of red rice are said to have been found at Jomon- and Yayoi-era sites, making it among Japan's oldest rice lineages.
- AkitakomachiA Koshihikari cross bred for Akita's cool climate, said to carry a lighter sweetness and moderate stickiness, long favored as an everyday table rice. Named, it's said, after the legendary beauty Ono no Komachi, it ranks among Japan's most widely planted varieties.
Ingredients and dishes from this land
Known source
- Known source: Miyagi, Osaki
Said to have been bred at Miyagi's Furukawa agricultural station.
Derived style
- KoshiibukiSaid to be harvested earlier than Koshihikari, a Niigata variety with a light taste favored as everyday rice, letting shoppers taste the new crop first. Its name is said to combine Koshihikari's 'koshi' with 'ibuki', evoking Niigata's climate.
- Yume ShizukuBred in Saga, said to have a lighter taste than Sagabiyori and to pair well with everyday washoku, favored within the prefecture as a daily table rice. Its name is said to evoke a gentle taste, making it easy to pair with a wide range of dishes.