[ [76] See [Appendix XXI].
[ [77] See [Appendix XXII].
[ [78] The harvest extends from mid-September in the north of Japan to the end of October or beginning of November in the south. The harvest is taken early in the north for fear of frost.
[ [79] The "210th day" (counted from the beginning of spring), when flowering commences, is so critical a period that the weather conditions during the twenty-four hours in every prefecture are reported to the Emperor.
CHAPTER IX
THE RICE BOWL, THE GODS AND THE NATION
I thank whatever gods there be....—Henley
I
How many people who have not been in the East or in the rice trade realise that rice, in the course of the polishing it receives from the farmer and the dealer, loses nearly half its bulk? A necessary part of the grain is lost. No wonder that sensible people in Japan and the West demand the grey unpolished rice. In Japan some enterprising person has started selling bottled stuff made from the part of the rice grain that is rubbed off in the polishing process. It does not look appetising. An easier thing would be to leave some of the coating on the rice. One thinks of what Smollett said of white bread: