Kusu rice

Kusu Town sits in west-central Oita, surrounded by mountains and marked by flat-topped, tableland-like scenery. The rice is described through water, soil, and climate rather than through a single label: abundant water from the mountain foot, underground water associated with Mount Mannen, sunlight, fertile red soil, and the basin’s temperature shifts. Those conditions give the article’s sense of place a practical shape, because they are the water that reaches the paddies, the soil around the roots, and the cool and warm changes rice growers work with.

When Kusu rice is introduced locally, the names Hitomebore, Hinohikari, and Tsuyahime appear. Hitomebore is repeatedly tied to good eating quality and to rice that remains enjoyable after cooling. Hinohikari is described with a good aroma and a firmer texture, while Tsuyahime is linked with sweetness, aroma, gloss, and stickiness. These variety names keep Kusu rice from becoming an abstract regional phrase; they point to traits a person can notice in a bowl or rice ball.

Farmer Sachiko Anai presents freshly cooked rice as a salt onigiri, sprinkling salt on her hands and shaping a warm handful of rice. With only rice and salt, the focus moves to the grain: a sticky, springy texture and sweetness that opens with chewing. JA Kusu Kokonoe also connects Kusu rice with cooled eating. Because the grain surface is described as helping keep flavor inside, the difference is said to show clearly in bento and onigiri after the rice has cooled.

The work behind Kusu rice includes more than a favorable basin. Growers till the soil, manage water when the ears emerge, add compost according to soil condition, and watch weather that can affect taste. Kusu Town tourism material also points to natural rack drying, or kakeboshi, saying carefully grown rice gains more umami through that drying step. The process turns landscape into labor: water level, soil strength, weather, and drying all have to be handled in the field.

Kusu rice culture also reaches dishes and brewing. Anai’s kasu soup uses plenty of sake lees, locally gathered shiitake, root vegetables, and handmade miso; the sake lees come from Kame no I Shuzo in Kusu Town. In the brewery’s setting, rice and water remain central. Local descriptions connect the brewery with underground water from Mount Mannen and with rice-sensitive steps such as washing, soaking, steaming, koji making, and fermentation.

The memory of Kusu fields also meets shrine practice. About 30 years before the 2020 account, land in Kusu was chosen as a principal offering field for rice connected with the Heisei Daijosai. That memory remains at Taki Shrine through photographs and local attention. Every year on June 14, the shrine holds a rite praying for a good harvest. Here, tradition means a named shrine, a fixed date, and a seasonal prayer tied to rice growing.

Kusu rice is also carried through local learning and exchange. A Waiwai Juku activity brought together Hachiman civic hall, Oita University, rice producers, and the town office around the theme of Kusu rice and the town itself. Participants tasted morning-made onigiri and freshly cooked rice, while field care such as tilling, water management, compost, and weather sensitivity was discussed. The rice moved from paddy to civic hall, giving students, residents, and producers a shared table.