Gohan
Gohan (ご飯, [cooked] rice) is plainly cooked white rice. It is such a staple that the terms gohan is also used to refer meals in general. While raw rice is called kome (米, rice), cooked rice is called gohan.
One of the most treasured "fresh" ingredients is shinmai (new-harvest rice). Shinmai (新米) literally means "new rice." Shinmai rice is the first crop of the season to be harvested. In order to be qualified as shinmai, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in Japan states in the Japanese Agricultural Standard Rules that the rice must be processed and packaged for sale in the same year in which it was harvested. Shinmai usually becomes available in early fall and remains available only until the end of the year.