Rice rocket

Rice rocket is a slang term applied to Japanese-made sports bikes. The term is derived from the speed of the motorcycle (rocket), and the "Japanese" origin of the vehicles (a reference to cultural and historical importance of the rice crop in Japan). The term is sometimes used derogatorily, implying that American and/or European vehicles are superior to Japanese made vehicles, but, as with many slang terms, may also be used neutrally or even as a term of affection, depending on the speaker and context.
Rice rocket is a derogatory term used in reference with imported Japanese cars often modified, customized, and tuned strictly for aesthetic appeal. The cars often have modifications such as cut springs to give the car a lower stance, fiberglass body kits, large spoilers, lighting modifications, custom paint and/or decal designs, rims and loud raspy mufflers. The vehicles usually have small displacement engines (usually 4-cylinders) which require additional performance modifications to get them to be adequate competitors. In most cases "rice rockets" are a mockery of true JDM cars.
rice rocket is sometimes used synonymously with the term rice burner.
Rice rocket is also sometimes used to describe non-stop flights between New York (JFK) and Tokyo (NRT) given their length (14hrs outbound/12hrs return). These flights were historically some of the longest range flights.

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