Sharpened Rice

It's convenient to get Thai rice and arborio rice at supermarkets, but I sometimes buy Japanese rice at an Asian food shop. Akitakomachi is one of the top rice-brands which is produced in Akita prefecture (next pref. to my hometown; Miyagi). I grew up in a rice-producing region, I want to stick to my local production as much as I can. It is nothing special nowadays, but I am happy that I can buy them in the UK. It's extremely useful.

Before we cook rice, we basically 'wash' Japanese rice well. However, we don't describe it as 'wash', rather we say 'sharp'. Because we wash rice by rubbing against each other wherein the water is drained, to get rid of most of bran (the loose powder). The rice is sharpened and rinsed until the water becomes clear. That's why Japanese describe it as 'sharp rice'. The act of washing itself looks like making knead dough by hand.