Barley is the oldest cereal in the world. Areas with dry climate, like West and Central Asia are the native lands of barley. Barley had been brought to Japan in III-IV centuries from China and Korea, which is much earlier than wheat. The wide cultivation began since the Nara's period (710-787). In the Heian's period people began cooking rice with barley.

In the whole world it is used for brewing beer and whisky. In Japan barley is used for making a spirit called shochu, barley tea and a porridge made of cleaned barley. Barley is used in cooking soy paste miso. A special kind of noodle is also made of barley flour. Barley is added to the forage in order to make farming of animal stock healthier.

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