Saying good rice is sticky/wet/chewy is not accurate, because different strains serve different purposes. Some rice is meant to be chewy for sushi, others are better used for chazuke. It also used to be a regional thing for which strains were used for which cuisines, eg Hokkaido rice (onigiri) is different than Shikoku rice (sake)

The equivalent is like French wine fans saying no good wine could be produced in California. Obviously that wasn't true, and there was a lot of propaganda trying to lead people to believe that it was.

> does it have the same sticky/wet/chewy texture that Japanese rice is famous for ?

Calrose does but its not as good as the japanese rice I've had. Though I dont live in Japan and its possible only the better quality rices are exported?

The tv reporting on cal-rose did point out it's a bit less starchy, but still good. Similar reporting on the strategic reserve rice pointed out it's a bit more crunchy but still good. Someone on TV saying it's still good is pretty strong marketing and seems to be contributing to sales of imported rice. It'll be interesting to see how this goes once things settle down, especially if tariff-free rice quotas stick around.

I know that Australian-grown Japonica does, although I don't think produces in Australia care about taste (which is why I buy Japanese rice).

But when the average bowl of rice is smothered in curry, demi-glace or egg, soy & sugar I don't think you could tell.

I was definitely neither ridiculing nor suggesting they depart from their cultural values.

I actually appreciate Japan's strong preference for domestic foods; the positive health aspects, the cultural ties, the community building, and so on.