Study Material - Week3 PASSAGE1 - Navigating food labels in Japan can feel like decoding a secret language, even if you’ve been here for years. Once you finally figure out how to read Japanese food labels, there’s still that long list of mysterious ingredients that pop up after the slash mark (／). What even are half of these things? Are they safe? Necessary? For example, why does an *onigiri* (rice ball) with no filling, literally just a ball of white rice, have so many things after that slash mark? If you’ve ever found yourself wondering about Japanese food additives, you’re not alone. ingredients 材料 additives 添加物 https://japantoday.com/category/features/food PASSAGE2 - The Japanese government aims to lower rice prices through an unusual method of distributing stockpiles ― selling directly to retailers in a try to bring prices down fast. To get the rice to consumers as quickly, and cheaply, as possible, the government on Monday introduced a new scheme: selling it straight to retailers. This came after a series of auctions among distributors failed to cut prices on supermarket shelves. Firms rushed to apply for the purchases. stockpiles 備蓄 scheme 策略 retailer 小売店 distributor 販売代理店 https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/backstories/4037/