Rice and religion

Rice
(Retrieved from Wikipedia on June 18, 2012) 

If you come to Japan, you will see the white cooked rice in restaurants all over the Japan. The famous Japanese food "Sushi" is also made of flesh raw fish and vinegared rice. Even in the general households, rice has been their main food for breakfast, lunch and dinner. In history, rice firming came from Korea to Japan as its local people immigrated into the land of Japan. In Yayoi era　(the third century BC to the third century AD), the cultivation expanded and it became the main grain to Japanese.

Rice has a very important/symbolic meaning in the belief of Japan's traditional religion; Shintoism. In the religious myth, the supreme goddes of the sun (Amaterasu) cultivates rice in her farm in heaven and sent her grandson whose name means "greatly shiny rice" down to the land of Japan to govern the country (so it is said that the emperors in history are decendents of the goddes). Even at present, the most important festival in Shintoism is "Kan-name Sai" (神嘗祭) festival  in November at the Jingu of Ise (The Ise Grand Shrine; the center of all of the shrines of Shinto in Japan like "Jerusalem for Japanese". The shrine's based in Ise city, Mie Pref.). The fesitval is designed for blessing the new rice harvest of the year and show our appreciation to the goddess for giving us the rice (symbolically, our foods). This festival is held only in the Grand Shrine as their religious event amd it isn't genelized in households in Japan, so you can't imagine it like thanks-giving day in American families (with turkey on the table) . However, in  most of shrines hold a similar festival called  "Ni-i-name Sai"(新嘗祭） festival in Autum for thanking and blessing the rice harvest. Subsequently, as a head of Japan's Shinto religion, the emperor of Japan conducts the rice-harvest festival every year in his private shrine in his palace in the same way as the Ise Grand Shrine does. In Japan's religion, rice has very important meaning.

The Japanese government has put a great emphasis on rice protection. In search of TPP, Trans-Pacific Partnership, rice is on target to discuss over its trade liberalization. In domestic agricultural industry, the government keeps abundant amount of subsidiary to rice farmers with rich policies, while the subsidiaries to other crops are basically smaller. Before Uruguay-round, Japan had not imported rice, namely, 100% of rice demand was covered only by domestic farmers. Due to this confidence, rice is kept sacred and away from other commodities in market. It is based on their politics, but this religious aspect may be its background, although it is just my speculation.