Japanese rice refers to a number of short-grain cultivars of Japonica rice which are grown in Japan. The two main categories of Japanese rice are ordinary rice (uruchimai) and glutinous rice (mochigome). Ordinary Japanese rice, or uruchimai (粳米), is the type most commonly grown, and is the staple foodstuff of the Japanese diet. It consists of short translucent grains. When cooked it has a somewhat sticky texture such that it can easily be picked up and eaten with chopsticks. Outside of Japan it is sometimes labeled as sushi rice, as this is one of its common uses. It is also used to produce sake. Glutinous rice, known in Japan as mochigome (もち米), is used for making mochi (餅) and special dishes such as sekihan. It is a short-grain rice, and can be distinguished from uruchimai by its particularly short, round and opaque grains, its greater stickiness when cooked, and by its markedly firmer and chewier texture when consumed.

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