Rice is such an important component of the Japanese diet that the Japanese word "gohan" is used to refer to both "cooked rice" and " meal." One of the most important points for Japanese people when assessing a Japanese restaurant is the flavor of their rice.

Rice includes the long-grain Indica variety used in lots of Asian cooking, the round-grain Japonica variety and big-grain Javanica variety. Japanese cooking uses the Japonica varieties that become sticky when cooked.

Harvested rice that has had its chaffs removed is called unpolished rice or genmai. The bran is then scraped off the surface to produce polished rice. Rice is classified as unpolished, 30% polished, whole rice and unpolished rice based on the extent to which this bran was removed. Rice can be cooked in a pot, but today it is usually prepared in a special rice cooker. Many Japanese-made rice cookers come equipped with built-in microcomputers to automatically cook the rice based on the rice variety and the user's cooking preferences.

Rice is usually washed before cooking in order to remove the bran. However, this is not necessary for many products now available on the market such as pre-washed rice and pre-cooked rice products that can be easily heated up in a microwave oven.

Rice is also used as the key component in Japanese sake, rice vinegar, soy sauce, miso, rice cakes and sweets.

Rice that will not be soon consumed should be stored in a refrigerator in a tightly sealed container. Cooked rice can also be stored in this manner and reheated in a microwave oven prior to eating.