Rice planting season is an exciting time for families and farmers in Japan. Last years seeds are carefully raised in trays and fertilized to help them get off to a good start. It was my job to "put on the medicine" when I joined a family's seed preparation day. The trays were wrapped up in a large plastic sheet to help them germinate. After seven days they sprout. About 100 trays will give you 7000kg of rice. Wow! While the rice is sprouting the fields are being weeded and the soil is hoed. Most of this work is done by machines now, but some people like to do it the traditional way and have a small rice field. When the soil is light and fluffy a small stream is diverted into the paddock, flooding it with cool, clean river water. The water is left there for a few days then the ground is hoed again making a sloppy, custard like consistency. Rice loves to have wet feet in its early days. So the little sprouts get off to a great start they are fertilized again, by hand. People are excited around this time of the year and looking forward to delicious new season rice.
The watery habitat makes an ideal place for frogs to live, so the fields are alive with frogs, birds and sometimes snakes.
Rice in Japanese is "gohan" = go harn. A mountain rice field is called "Tanada" Tarn na da.
These are being used to fill in any gaps left by the planting machine.
Tanada or mountain rice field.
This is back breaking work, but this granny or Obachan is built tough.
Here some international students from Fukuoaka try rice planting. There's a kiwi girl in there.
High-tech rice planting.
Sun protection is important when working outdoors, even if the sun is nowhere as strong as NZ.
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