That’s where they want Gackt to go-oh-oh… Way down to kokokomai.

With rising rice prices reaching critical mass, newly appointed agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi has made it his personal mission to bring the prices down. To do this, he has authorized the release of stockpiled rice which will be sold through select retailers.

However, this stockpile includes rice harvested from the past four years. Rice classification dictates that rice harvested last year is known as “shinmai” or “new rice” and rice from the year before that is “komai” or “old rice” and with each preceding year, a “ko / old” is added. So, in this case, the oldest stockpiled rice is “old old old rice” (kokokomai) from 2021.

Japanese people by and large are deadly serious about their rice since it’s generally eaten multiple times a day, every day. So, the prospect of eating old, old, old rice is not very appealing and some in the industry have even scoffed at it, saying that it’s meant for livestock feed rather than human consumption.

To dispel these criticisms, Koizumi held a press conference on 30 May, during which new rice, old rice, old old rice, and old old old rice were all cooked the same way and given out for a taste test to see if people could tell the difference. Koizumi himself ate them all and remarked, “Frankly, they were all delicious.”

Judging by the reaction online, however, many people were still not convinced. It’s understandable since no one really has a sense of Koizumi’s gourmet sensibilities to trust his judgment. Instead, people are demanding that musician and actor Gackt be the arbiter of taste.

The reason is that, aside from being a major entertainer in Japan, Gackt’s other claim to fame is as a juggernaut on the television show Geinojin Kakuzuke Check!, a game show where celebrities must distinguish between high-class and low-class art, music, craftsmanship, dance, and cuisine. Despite the wide range of arts and culture, Gackt has maintained a perfect individual record over several years and cemented his position as an indisputable man of taste long ago.

▼ Gackt has lost in team competitions though, because of his partners Daigo and Golden Bomber’s Sho Kiryuin. Here they both are simultaneously guessing kangaroo meat was Michelin-grade sukiyaki and eliminating Gackt from competition.

Hardcore Gackt heads might point out that Gackt stopped eating rice decades ago, but that doesn’t seem to matter because in an episode of Geinojin Kakuzuke Check! just last year he was able to correctly identify a seafood rice dish made by a Michelin-starred chef because of the texture in the grains.

And so, because of his superhuman powers of taste, Gackt is perhaps the only person in Japan no one would dispute if he said old old old rice tasted just as good as new rice if online comments are anything to go by.

“Why didn’t they invite Gackt to the tasting event?”
“I remember Gackt said he preferred chilled old old rice, and he’s right because it has more nutritional value. He really knows his stuff.”
“If they could fool Gackt with old old old rice, then everyone would buy it.”
“Gackt would be able to tell right away.”
“I would believe whatever Gackt said about it, good or bad.”
“Gackt would probably spit it out after one bite.”
“But most people aren’t Gackt anyway, and probably wouldn’t notice the difference.”

That last comment brings up a good point. If Gackt says a certain food is great or not, I’d believe him but it doesn’t mean I’d be able to tell the difference myself. It also kind of makes you wonder if his unique ability is more of a curse than a gift if he can tell so easily when something is disappointingly not up to par.

I guess I’ll just be happy in my blissfully ignorant world of only being able to distinguish premium Black Thunder chocolate bars and Garigari-kun ice pops.

Source: Daily Sports, Twitter/ 古古古米 Gackt
Featured image: ©SoraNews24
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