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Rice Photo Gallery III Kazuko Tomiyama's 'Rice in Japan' Calendar (2004)
Owarabi rice terraces
(Yamanobe Town, Yamagata Prefecture)
Making the slope look steeper that it is, ascending rice stooks let the
harvest dry naturally in the sun. At Owarabi, this amazing sight of rice stooks
is presented by eleven farm households who uncomplainingly stick to the
time-honored ways of producing rice. Here on the fringe of Yamagata City, at 400 m above sea level, these terraced
paddy fields were opened during the Meiji Period. They are listed among the top
hundred terraced fields in Japan and are now subsidized by the local
government. Growing rice in these fields stepped
from highland slopes is a challenge. Rather, the area is better known for edible
wild plants and buckwheat. Now, through a terrace owner and buckwheat owner
system, families in Machida City, Tokyo have also started to support the
farmers. | |
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