What is Horai rice?

Taichung 65, Penglai, or Horai are names given to the round grain rice bred from crosses of Japonica (Kameji and Sinliki) with other varieties grown in Taiwan. 

The word Horai 蓬萊 was a neologism to name the new variety (in Mandarin Chinese, it was Penglai; in vernacular Taiwanese, Ponlai). In the shared mythology of the Japanese and Chinese cultures, the term refers to a paradisiacal mountain. Fittingly, Horai was also an archaic Japanese name for the island of Taiwan. It should be noted that Horai did not refer to a particular breed or crossbreed of rice; as a category, it was a collection of many glutinous and non-glutinous types. 

Horai Rice combined the characteristics needed to grow rice in Taiwan for the Japanese market: short round grains, sticky texture, high production yields, and the ability to withstand local pests, heat, and sunlight. With this success, Taiwan became a rice producer for the Japanese home islands, causing significant changes in the colony’s economic position within the empire and subsequently affecting the political viewpoint of the colonial rulers of Taiwan.

References
https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2018/06/6878d2a62a6f-feature-taiwanese-rice-has-its-roots-in-japan.html