<< Japan has many kinds of plants according to its relatively mild climate that has seasonal variations and is rich in rainfall. Each native plant is important to us Japanese, since each of them has different values. In addition to the intrinsic values of the plants, we have long used them as food source, material to build houses, or decoration etc. However it is rice that has been most important plant in Japan. This is because the rice is the staple food in the country and that has greatly influenced our food culture, and was the basis of the society in old days. The importance of rice is firstly explained by the fact that the rice is staple diet for Japanese, and that we rely our source of energy on it. Although many people, especially young ones come to like to eat other source of carbohydrates such as pastas and bread, Japanese people still eat rice as our staple diet mostly. When I was a high school student in Japan, I used to eat rice for almost every meal, for my mother used to fix breakfast, packed lunch, and dinner usually with using rice as the source of carbohydrate. I think this can apply to many Japanese people to a large extent. That is, they eat rice at least once or twice a day. Even I am currently overseas, I still cook rice for my meals when I can afford my time. In addition, since the rice has been our staple food, it is one of the most important foods in Japanese food that has a great influence on our food culture. All traditional Japanese foods go well together well with rice or made with using rice. One famous example can be Sushi that is usually made of rice and fish. Therefore it is safe to argue that Japanese put emphasis in rice as our staple food that also have influence on Japanese cuisine. The fact that the rice is only one major crop that Japan can domestically produce significantly adds to the importance to the rice as our staple food. Japan heavily relies on our food on imports from other countries, thus can face danger in terms of food supply in the future in case of the war, breaking down of amicable relation with food exporting countries, or extreme decline in national purchasing power. For example, Japan rely its wheat supply on imports from overseas over 80%, which means Japan do not have any capacity to be self sufficient in terms of wheat. The rice however is only one major source that Japan can domestically produce and feed the population without any imports. The rice is important in a way that only food that are good source of energy and that can feed the population domestically, thus support our population even under some kind of emergencies. Lastly, the importance of the rice in the country is also underlined by the historical fact that Japan had long based it social system on rice. Until the tax system where the payment has to be in a form of cash after Tokugawa shogunate finished, the government in Japan used to have the system to govern which has its basis on the rice. That is, farmers had to pay the tax with rice, and regional leaders are given the land in the consideration of how the land is productive in terms of rice harvest. Considering these things, it is obvious that the rice made the basis of this country and was the important commodity. This gives the rice the historical and traditional importance, since this historical fact is part of our national identity. Moreover, without rice, the Japanese could have been different on the basis of the consideration of the significance of the rice in our history. In summary, the rice have been the most important plant in Japan, for it is the staple food for Japanese that formed our food culture, and is only one major crop that the country can produce self sufficiently. Another reason is that the rice was the basis of the institution of the society until the era of Tokugawa shogunate finished.