Here’s a bit more about rice than you’d probably like to know: mid-13c., from Old French ris, from Italian riso, from Latin oriza, from Greek oryza “rice,” via an Indo-Iranian language (compare Pashto vriže, Old Persian brizi), ultimately from Sanskrit vrihi-s “rice.” The Greek word is the ultimate source of all European words (Welsh reis, German reis, Lithuanian ryžiai, Serbo-Croatian riza, Polish ryż, etc.).
It is rice harvesting season in Kumamoto. If you have a chance to venture out to the countryside to see the terraces covered with golden sheathes of rice, I recommend doing so. The Ogi Rice Terraces in Ubuyama Village are particularly famous.
On a related note, the miniature tractors commonly used in Japan, usually manufactured by Yanase, are commonly exported to the United States, often used, where gardeners love their compact size and reliability. - William
