on rice and soy sauce storage

From the Kikkoman website:An unopened glass bottle of soy sauce will keep for two years without any deterioration in taste or quality if it is stored in a cool, dark place. Once the bottle has been opened, we suggest that you keep it in the refrigerator. For table use, soy sauce tastes best when used within a month after opening.

For cooking purposes, a three-month-old bottle will still be perfectly adequate. Low sodium soy sauce should always be refrigerated after opening, because the low salt content makes it more susceptible to "oxidation." When soy sauce is exposed to oxygen, its color becomes darker and the flavor weakens.

My student, Tomoko from riceland (Niigata prefecture) told me she stores rice in a 2L plastic PET bottle. I have since adopted that way of keeping rice. It is said to preserve the original moisture in rice often lost during storage. Moist grains of uncooked rice turn out tastier than the dry ones, which is why SHIN-mai (new rice harvest of the year) is soooo delish!