This is so silly. I am going to go over there and complain about their sad excuse for kimchi!
http://www.thestar.com/article/199067
Mr. Hashimoto explains that, in true Japanese cooking, the rice has to come from Japan. “It makes a difference,” he says. “There, people can eat the rice by itself because it’s so much more flavourful and it can be much more plump, much fluffier. It’s the water and the temperature. The Japanese people put more work into the water they use [in paddy fields] than the rice, which makes it very different from other countries. It’s almost like holy water.”