{"id":43289,"date":"2026-09-24T12:00:07","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T03:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/icc\/?p=43289"},"modified":"2026-09-24T11:46:35","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T02:46:35","slug":"%e5%8f%82%e5%8a%a0%e8%80%85%e3%83%ac%e3%83%9d%e3%83%bc%e3%83%88-25-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.waseda.jp\/inst\/icc\/news-en\/2026\/09\/24\/43289\/","title":{"rendered":"Onigiri Workshop: Letting the Rice Breathe – ICC Japanese Culture Event Participant Report"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Kailyn Huang<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h6>\n
Student of Center for Japanese Language<\/h6>\n<\/div>\n
\n

It was Monday evening, and the clock ticked past dinnertime. Students young and old gathered at tables set with ingredients\u00a0for\u00a0omusubi, or Japanese rice balls. Some guests were from China. Others hailed from the United States and spoke little Japanese. About half were members of\u00a0Waseda\u2019s\u00a0Life Redesign College (LRC), a program for middle-aged and older adults interested in exploring different approaches to the second half of life. They had one thing in common: Everyone was hungry.<\/span><\/p>\n

The occasion\u00a0was \u201dHandmade, Hand-Tied Bonds,\u201d an\u00a0omusubi\u00a0workshop organized by\u00a0Waseda\u00a0University’s Intercultural Communication Center. Leading the event was Saiko Miyazaki, a self-described\u00a0omusubi\u00a0artisan and founder of\u00a0Omusubi\u00a0Sun Lab, where she teaches participants the value of the humble rice ball. After all, few things foster connection more readily than a shared meal.\u00a0<\/span>As\u00a0<\/span>Ms.<\/span>Miyazaki prepared the rice, her voice softened. There is a name for this process: ogami-arai; to wash as though in prayer. With the tenderness of someone bathing an infant, she rinsed the grains, releasing pale clouds of starch into the water. <\/span>Yasashiku, she said. Gently.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Ms.<\/span>Miyazaki\u2019s\u00a0beginner-friendly lessons are inspired by the late Hatsume Sato, who established\u00a0Hirosaki<\/span>Isukia<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0a refuge for those experiencing distress. In life, Sato welcomed visitors with warm\u00a0omusubi, miso soup, and pickled vegetables, treating food not simply as nourishment but as a form of care.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When\u00a0<\/span>Ms.<\/span>Miyazaki visited Sato\u00a0<\/span>, she was struck by what she called the \u201cextraordinary deliciousness\u201d of the meal they shared. Its power came not from elaborate preparation but from the thoughtfulness with which it had been made.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Photo by ICC<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI realized that while I could never master complex French cuisine or elaborate international dishes, I could certainly learn to make a rice ball,\u201d Ms. Miyazaki said. \u201cThat simple, grounded realization is what started everything for me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Omusubi gave her an accessible method of hospitality: a food that almost anyone can make and offer to others.<\/span><\/p>\n

That care also extends to the rice and its environment. <\/span><\/p>\n

For the event, participants used naturally cultivated Kamenoo rice grown at Ya<\/span>t<\/span>sugatake Southern Foot Farm in\u00a0Oizumi, Yamanashi Prefecture.\u00a0The farmer who grew it, a\u00a0Waseda<\/span>alumnus known as Yamaki-san, returned to his alma mater for the workshop. <\/span>Yamaki\u00a0<\/span>cultivate<\/span>s<\/span>\u00a0rice without pesticides or chemical fertilizers.\u00a0When offered a microphone, he declined; his booming voice carried easily across the room.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In his work, Yamaki feels \u201can immense ecological responsibility.\u201d The farm draws on water filtered naturally through the region\u2019s volcanic rock, and Yamaki regards protecting that water as a personal duty. \u201cEverything is interconnected,\u201d he explained.\u00a0 <\/span>The ingredients on each table\u2014Yamaki\u2019s rice, sheets of nori, tuna mayonnaise, and dried plum\u2014had arrived by different routes and passed through many hands. It would take just a few minutes to form the\u00a0omusubi.<\/span><\/p>\n

At one table sat\u00a0Shunji-san, a retired salaryman and self-proclaimed rice connoisseur. His eyes widened when the freshly steamed\u00a0Kamenoo\u00a0arrived, and he admitted that he would happily eat the rice plain.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Photo by ICC<\/p><\/div>\n

Beside him was\u00a0Yoshiko-san, whom he introduced to undergraduate students as his senpai. While Shunji chose the tuna-mayonnaise filling, Yoshiko opted for a single plum, tucking it into the bed of white grain. Taking a pinch of salt, she rubbed her palms together and began to shape the rice with decades of practiced ease.<\/span><\/p>\n

With the right guidance, making\u00a0omusubi\u00a0may be easier than navigating the plastic film on store-bought versions. Miss a step, and the impeccably portioned sheet of seaweed tears into an unsightly mess. Perfection, however, is hardly the point.<\/span><\/p>\n

The delight is in the process.\u00a0Leung-san,\u00a0a participant from Hong Kong who arrived in Japan last year, likened her creation to a \u201crice baseball\u201d before wrapping it in dark nori.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t hold the rice too tightly,\u201d Yoshiko instructed. \u201cLet it breathe.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The name\u00a0omusubi\u00a0is associated with the verb\u00a0musubu, meaning to tie, bind, or connect. For\u00a0<\/span>Ms.<\/span>Miyazaki, each rice ball embodies those ideas. Omusubi, she feels, represent \u201cthe binding together of human hearts.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Each rice ball carried traces of labor that the diners could not fully see: the cultivation of the grain, the protection of the water, the preparation of the fillings, and the hands that brought them together.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps what\u00a0makes\u00a0food\u00a0so comforting is the immediacy it brings. With one bite, the senses are grounded. Crisp, umami-rich nori gives way to sweet, fragrant rice; creamy tuna mayonnaise coats the palate; and tangy plum melts on the tongue.<\/span><\/p>\n

Once the last omusubi had been shaped, a small amount of rice remained in the pot. \u201cIt would be a waste,\u201d Shunji remarked. When no one else moved, he shrugged, dipped his fingers into the salt, and savored the rice whole.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Photo by ICC<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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