Translation guide
The process of milling or polishing brown rice to remove the bran, producing white rice. In Japanese, this is most commonly expressed with the verb 精米する (seimai suru) or the noun 精米 (seimai).
To express the action or process of polishing rice to remove the bran layer.
Noun meaning 'rice polishing' or 'milled rice'. Often used in compounds like 精米所 (rice polishing facility) or 精米機 (rice polishing machine).
精米したてのご飯は美味しい。
Freshly polished rice is delicious.
Verb meaning 'to polish rice'. This is the most direct and common way to describe the action.
玄米を精米して白米にする。
Polish brown rice to make white rice.
A more technical term for rice polishing, often used in industrial or agricultural contexts. Less common in everyday speech.
この工場では最新の搗精技術を使っている。
This factory uses the latest rice polishing technology.
To refer to the rice polishing ratio, especially in sake production, where the outer layers of rice grains are milled away.
The rice polishing ratio, indicating the percentage of the grain remaining after polishing. A key term in sake classification.
精米歩合50%の純米大吟醸。
A junmai daiginjo with a rice polishing ratio of 50%.
Verb meaning 'to polish' or 'to refine'. In sake contexts, it can be used metaphorically or literally for polishing rice, but 精米する is more precise.
米を磨いて雑味を取り除く。
Polish the rice to remove off-flavors.
精米 is often combined with other kanji to form useful terms: 精米所 (せいまいじょ, rice polishing facility), 精米機 (せいまいき, rice polishing machine), 無洗米 (むせんまい, no-wash rice, which is polished to a higher degree).
Rice polishing (精米) is the industrial process of removing bran. Washing rice before cooking is 米を研ぐ (こめをとぐ) or 米を洗う (こめをあらう).