Morino Kumasan

Yes, this rice is really called "Morino Kumasan" -- literally "Mr. Bear of the Forest." The name immediately conjures a beloved Japanese children's song ("One day, in the forest, I met a bear..."), and most people chuckle the first time they see it on a supermarket shelf. Some feel slightly embarrassed carrying it to the register. But that laughter dies the moment they taste it. In 2012, Morino Kumasan earned the highest score in the entire Japan Grain Inspection Association flavor ranking, beating Koshihikari, Tsuyahime, and Yumepirika to claim the number-one spot nationwide. The bear bites.

A Respectable Pedigree Behind the Joke

The playful name has a perfectly dignified origin. Kumamoto Prefecture's capital, Kumamoto City, has been called "Mori no Miyako" (City of Forests) since the Meiji era, owing to its lush greenery, abundant water, and parks like Suizenji Joju-en. Combine "Forest City" with "Kumamoto" (which contains the character for bear), and you get "Morino Kumasan" -- literally "of the forest, from Kumamoto." It is an expression of local pride, not a joke.

Development began in 1989 at the Kumamoto Prefectural Agricultural Research Center. After eight years of breeding, the variety was born in 1997 and formally registered in 2000. The parents are Hinohikari (mother) and Koshihikari (father) -- Japan's two most widely planted varieties at the time. Morino Kumasan is, genetically speaking, royalty: the child of the eastern and western champions.

2012: The Year the Bear Reached the Summit

In the 2012 crop-year flavor rankings (announced February 2013), a record 29 varieties earned "Special A." But Morino Kumasan scored the single highest mark of all -- first place among every branded rice in the country. The result sent shockwaves through the industry and temporarily made Morino Kumasan a "phantom rice" as demand outstripped Kumamoto's production capacity.

The achievement was not a fluke. The parents' complementary traits -- Koshihikari's intense stickiness and Hinohikari's robust sweetness -- combine in Morino Kumasan to produce a rice that is both sticky and deeply flavorful. Kumamoto's breeders had spent eight years aiming for exactly this: a variety that inherits Koshihikari's eating quality and Hinohikari's heat tolerance for Kyushu's warm climate.

Strong and Tender -- A Dual Inheritance

The eating experience of Morino Kumasan is best described as "strong yet gentle." The stickiness is pronounced -- chopsticks meet real resistance -- and the sweetness is deep, building as you chew. The grain is medium-sized with a slight elongation, and the cooked surface gleams mirror-bright. Even after cooling, the rice maintains its gloss and softness, performing well in bento and onigiri.

Morino Kumasan integrates naturally with Kumamoto's bold, savory cuisine. Kyushu soy sauce tends sweeter than eastern varieties, and local dishes carry concentrated flavors:

• Basashi (horse sashimi): Kumamoto's signature dish pairs beautifully with the rice's sweetness
• Karashi renkon (mustard-stuffed lotus root): the peppery heat is wrapped in the grain's gentle sweetness
• Dago-jiru (dumpling soup): hearty soup meets hearty rice
• Taipien (Kumamoto-style Chinese soup noodle): a local comfort-food classic with white rice on the side

If you can get your hands on Kyushu-style sweet soy sauce, try it with Morino Kumasan at home -- the combination reveals a flavor dimension you will not find with eastern soy sauce.

The Name Is the Marketing

"Morino Kumasan" is impossible to forget once you have heard it. That memorability was almost certainly intentional -- a name that stops people in the aisle, makes them smile, and gets them to pick up the bag. First the name hooks you; then the flavor seals the deal. As a branding strategy, it is devastatingly efficient.

But do not be fooled by the whimsy. Behind the children's-song name stands an eight-year breeding program, two champion parents, a national number-one ranking, and the quiet pride of Kumamoto -- a prefecture that proves great rice does not have to come from the north. If you spot Morino Kumasan in a store or online, let yourself laugh at the name, then let yourself be impressed by what is inside the bag.