11.   Many Japanese tend to favor homegrown and assume that foreign rice is dry, tasteless and loaded with chemicals.

12.   Nearly two years after Japan agreed to give up its ban on foreign rice, the first rice imported under the new trading rules arrived Thursday.

13.   Some Japanese consumers, however, shunned the foreign rice, preferring the taste of the domestic grain.

14.   Taxes on foreign rice would be suspended.

15.   Still, foreign rice remains a tough sell.

16.   The farmers protested that in August, the government imported foreign rice for cooking, breaking its earlier promise not to import any for direct human consumption.

17.   The first imports of foreign rice under the new trade rules arrived in Japanese stores last week.

18.   The farmers took to the streets to protest against cheap foreign rice imports which they say are jeopardising their livelihoods.

19.   The first round of foreign rice is coming from Australia, but shipments from other countries are scheduled to come in later.

20.   The official said Japan was also studying the possibility of exporting foreign rice as well but no decisions have been made.