Osaka District Court, 2021 (Wa) 10586 [No-Wash Rice Retaining Umami and Nutrients]
Updated: 6 hours ago
Article information
Article type: Case note
Category: Other Japanese law
Topics: —
First published on this website: 2026-11-01
Display and classification checked: November 2, 2026
Originally published on Ameblo: 2024-07-22 (Japan time). Full English translation.
Osaka District Court, 2021 (Wa) 10586 [No-Wash Rice Retaining Umami and Nutrients]
“Because rice is a natural product, even within the same variety, different growing environments produce individual differences in the rice grains …; even when milled under identical conditions, the extent of milling differs from grain to grain.”
⇒ Results of other experiments cannot be relied on.
⇒ Claim limitations not satisfied
(⇒ No appeal)
(Excerpt from the court's reasoning)
…Because rice is a natural product, even within the same variety, different growing environments produce individual differences in the size of each cell layer and the constituents contained in each grain, and it is found that, even when milled under identical conditions, the extent of milling differs from grain to grain. Accordingly, even if starch-staining tests (the Exhibit Ko 7 and Ko 30 tests) confirmed that no aleurone cell layer remained on the surface of grains of the defendant's products (Miyagi-grown Tsuyahime Haiga Ichiban harvested in 2020 and 2021), this cannot be taken as a premise when examining the results of the Exhibit Ko 82 test conducted on another defendant product (Miyagi-grown Tsuyahime Haiga Ichiban harvested in 2022). …Whether each test conducted by the plaintiff is considered individually or the tests are considered together, in either case they are insufficient … to establish that the subaleurone cell layer is exposed on the surface of the rice grains of the defendant's products.
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November 1, 2026: First published on this website.
November 2, 2026: Added article information, classification, topics, language navigation, related articles where the same case was confirmed, consultation guidance, and SEO. The original text and first-published date were preserved.
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