Weell, the japanese and their rice is a kinda unique love story.
For a long period of time white rice(the japanese are riceists, cause other kinds of rice used to be considered inferior, and nowadays might prove hard to find) was considered a superior food, and that caused outbreaks of beriberi - thiamine deficiency, caused by malnutrition.
'御飯'('gohan') in japanese mean both 'cooked rice' and 'meal'.
The japanese in general are mostly oblivious about the outside world and most cuisine there gets a special japanese twist to it, so let's be lenient for now and see what happens next...