Essay, an important plant Some people choose a cherry blossom tree as the most important plant in Japan, but I choose a rice plant for the following two reasons. One is that rice is a staple food for Japanese people. Japanese people have eaten rice for over 2000 years. A lot of people eat rice every day. For Japanese people, it is difficult to imagine a life without rice. In the past, when rice could not be harvested enough because of cold summer, the Japanese government imported rice from foreign countries. For example, I eat rice every morning. Eating rice with miso soup and natto is tasty and these foods make me energetic because these contain balanced nutrition. In addition, since rice is more filling than other foods, I am not hungry for long hours. Nowadays various kinds of rice products have been invented, such as rice that we need not to wash before cooking and rice that we can eat it just by heating in a microwave. These kinds of rice provide me more opportunities to eat rice. If there was no rice, I could not start a day with full of energy. The other is that rice is an important material for processed foods industry. In various parts of Japan, rice is cultivated and each region has different kinds of rice. Rice can be processed into various foods, such as rice crackers and sake. So, there are various types of rice crackers and sake in Japan. These foods are sold as local special foods in each region, and the industries which relate to processed are important in Japan. Actually, last year, when I went to Niigata prefecture, I dropped by a souvenir shop at a station. There were a lot of rice crackers. These rice crackers had many types, such as salty, sweet, spicy, solid, and soft one. Many tourists around me bought these rice crackers. I also bought some of them as souvenirs for my friends. The shop staff said in these days many foreign tourists also bought rice crackers. The reason is that rice crackers are traditional foods of Japan and light to carry. In conclusion, I think a rice plant is the most important plant in Japan. Japanese people will eat rice 100 years later.