Koshihikari

Koshihikari (コシヒカリ, 越光) is a most popular variety of rice cultivated in Japan.

Koshihikari was first created in 1956, by combining 2 different strains of Nourin No.1 and Nourin No.22 at the Fukui Prefectural Agricultural Research Facility. It has become very popular now in Japan, in part due to its good appearance. It is one of the most highly-grown varieties of rice in the country, and its taste is said to differ per region. Some people think very highly of the Koshihikari harvested in Uonuma area of Niigata Prefecture and so traded at the most expensive price in all of Japan. The character for koshi (越) is used to represent old Koshi Province, which stretched from present-day Fukui to Yamagata. Koshihikari can be translated as "the light of Koshi ".

(source: Wikipedia)