How are you, Mr. Y, who is going to Australia to study naturopathic medicine? Have you left already? Sawadee Pee My Clap from the skies of Bangkok! （Happy New Year!) This morning, I was looking at the eastern sky from the BTS Paya Thai station. The same as usual, a bright star was shining in the bluish night sky just before sunrise, but there were pale white streaks running diagonally across it, as if brushed with a brush. Was it a cloud? Did you see M-senpai practicing tai chi in Lumpini Park in the early morning? At any rate, it was a pleasant dawn to see the majestic scenery first thing in the morning. In our column on the 5th, we published an article titled “What is the conservation of wild rice…” Here is a reply from Mr. S. from Nara Prefecture who introduced this valuable information to us.

Mr. Yatagai, thank you for your prompt reply. I started working and came home late, so I thought I would reply yesterday, but it turned out to be today. It is interesting to hear that red rice and black rice are commercially available in Thailand. I remember reading once that Japanese red rice is made with azuki beans to imitate the old red rice. I wonder if Japanese red rice was japonica. I remember that Mr. M and others used to hold a monthly gathering in Osaka for several years called “Rice Forum” with an appropriate lecturer. I used to attend those meetings as a regular participant, so I am interested in “rice”. See you soon. S

Was Japanese red rice japonica or not? I don’t know. I will look into it when I get a chance. In Thailand, they often sell glutinous rice cooked in a bamboo tube at train stations and peddlers in town. There is one that has beans like azuki beans in it, but regardless of the taste, the idea is that it is not red rice, but cooked rice. The joy of travel and long-stay in contact with different cultures may be in discovering the sameness rather than the dissimilarity of “here is different, there is different”. I am not a scholar, so I will not write about systematic things, but I hope to write about such discoveries from time to time in this column. 2005/1/07