As a horde of curious taste-testers gathered around his booth, USA Rice Council President Phil Illerich smiled and recalled how he was nearly arrested when he tried to display the grain in Japan three years ago.
Illerich can afford to be magnanimous. After all, American rice is now one of the hottest items in the land."The trade war may be heating up on other fronts, but certainly not with us rice growers," Illerich said Monday as a seemingly endless flow of Japanese guests snapped up free samples at the USA Rice booth.
The booth, draped with red, white and blue banners, has proved to be one of the most popular attractions among hundreds at this year's FOODEX, an international food industry trade fair.
"It tastes fine," said restaurant owner Yasuhiko Hoki. "If they can sell this cheaper than Japanese rice, I'd be glad to serve it to my customers."
Said Illerich: "We are very optimistic."
For American rice growers looking to export to Japan, that is a new sensation.
Japan's official policy for decades was that it would never allow imports of its staple food because of what it called the need for self-sufficiency and "food security."
But a dismal harvest last fall caused by a cool, wet summer forced it to break that policy this year, and so far 2 million tons of emergency imports have been ordered to keep up with demand.
Under pressure in international trade negotiations, the government has also promised to gradually open its rice market in the future, beginning next year with a share of 4 percent for imports.
"This emergency situation has really knocked down a barrier for us," Illerich said. "It's encouraging, and we hope the barrier will stay down.'
American rice growers gained wide publicity - and won some sympathy for their cause - in 1991 when they were told by Japanese authorities to either pull down their display at the FOODEX fair or face possible arrest for breaking the Food Control Law.