Rice Planting by Hand

I will show a picture of rice planting by hand, as I promised. When I visited Oshino Village, I happened to see them planting young rice plants. They were about to take a rest, but I asked to allow me to take pictures of them. I took several shots quickly. Most farmers use a rice planter. Only at small paddy fields and terrace paddy fields, they plant rice by hand.

When I took a walk today, I found the following flowers. Do you know the name of the flowers?

The Answer is [Chestnut]

It was the first time I saw the flowers of chestnut.

Rice Growing and Irrigation Canal

There are a lot of farmhouses in the suburbs of Tokyo. I went to the southern part of Saitama prefecture to see the paddy fields and the irrigation canals. Two canals, East and West, run north-south. They were built during Edo period and water was led from the Tone River, the second longest river in Japan. Canals were also used to run the boats carrying rice to Edo (Tokyo). They were called Tsusenbori. They show the high level of irrigation technology.

(Minuma Irrigation Canal)

(Remains of Tsusenbori)

(Paddy Field)

Rice Planting Done

Rice Planting on the farmer’s paddy field has been done as he had said the other day. Perhaps I think he used a rice planter. I saw some farmers doing rice planting without using a machine at Oshino village. I think I can show you the pictures tomorrow.

Mt. Fuji Was in a Bad Mood Today!

According to the weather forecast, it will be rainy or cloudy this week, but only Monday it will be sunny. So, I got up early this morning and went out to Oshino village northeast of Mt. Fuji. I reached there around 10 a.m. but the most of the mountain has already been hidden in cloud. A café owner said Mt. Fuji showed up only for a very short time early morning.
There are eight springs called Oshino Hakkai (=eight seas) at Oshino. They are springs from Mt. Fuji.

(An early summer sky.......)

(Paddy Field)

(One of the Eight Springs)

(Water Mill)

Rice-Planting Season

The Japanese live on rice. Children are brought up not to leave any rice in their bowl. Rice fields are seen throughout Japan. A farmer I happened to meet today said that rice planting used to be carried out in June, but recently it was done during May. It is because they grow rice of early season cultivar, which reduces the risk of the damage due to typhoon. The farmers were preparing for rice planting scheduled on next weekend.
I saw butterflies and a dragonfly.

Children’s Day

Kodomo-no-kuni (Children’s Land) was very much crowded with families. This natural playland is located in the hills of western Yokohama. Today children were admission-free. There were a lot of smile of children who were innocently at play.

For more information of Children’s Day, access to the following my Web site:
http://www.realjapan.org/life/event/mayevent.html

Omotesando

It was a beautiful day. I went to Omotesando at Shibuya, Tokyo to see a photo exhibition. Omotesando is a popular place especially for young people, because it is one of the trendsetting towns in Japan. In February new commercial facilities, “Omotesando Hills,” was opened. This building was built after a decrepit apartment called “Dojunkai” was pulled down. Dojunkai apartment was built after the Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923 and had been a landmark at Omotesando.
Avenue of zelkova trees is the season of new green leaves. I recommend you to enjoy a smart atmosphere of Omotesando but avoid visiting on holidays.

(Dojunkai Apartment)

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(Omotesando Hills)