Photos: Rice paddy crop art (2009)
Sengoku-period warrior [Photo]
As summer progresses, crops of rice paddy art are beginning to emerge in Japan. The crop art — created by strategically arranging and growing different colors of rice plants — can be seen in farming communities across the country. The largest and finest work is grown in the Aomori prefecture village of Inakadate, which has earned a reputation for its agricultural artistry. This year the enormous pictures of Napoleon and a Sengoku-period warrior, both on horseback, are visible in a pair of fields adjacent to the town hall there.
View from roof of Inakadate town hall [Photo]
Warrior [Photo]
Napoleon [Photo]
View from top of warrior’s head [Photo]
Warrior’s arm [Photo]
Close-up of rice plants [Photo]
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Another relatively famous rice paddy art venue is located in the town of Yonezawa in Yamagata prefecture. This year’s work depicts the 16th-century samurai Naoe Kanetsugu and his wife, Osen, whose lives are chronicled in Tenchijin, the popular, year-long historical fiction television series now airing on NHK.
Naoe Kanetsugu and Osen [Photo: contri]
Osen [Photo]
Naoe Kanetsugu [Photo]
View from top of Naoe Kanetsugu’s head [Photo]
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Smaller works of crop art can be seen in other rice-farming areas of Japan. Here are a few more examples.
Doraemon and deer dancers (shishi-odori), location unknown [Photo]
Ladybug, Nishio, Aichi prefecture [Photo]
Cow, Omi-Hachiman, Shiga prefecture [Photo]
Ducks, near Fukushimagata Lagoon Water Park, Niigata prefecture [Photo]
Ah, I love the ducks for some reason. Random!
I wish it were easier to share PT posts on Facebook–I post in URLs sometimes but I don’t think anyone ever clicks on them because thumbnails never show up, and so much of the good stuff you guys post is so graphical in nature that it’s not really alluring unless people can see a thumbnail. :/
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So much nicer than crop circles, so much less destructive and costly to the farmers. More than the crop circles, the droves of people who just walk out into the fields and break crops even more to get a look at things or to “test for aliens” or wtf ever they think they’re doing, those people ruin farmers crops and livelyhoods.
This, on the other hand, not only discourages monocropping but is beautiful and non-destructive to the farmers fields and livelyhoods.
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Great stuff. Who plots it out, the farmers?
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This takes some serious skill. Mucho props to them!
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Thanks for this. It’s so beautiful, it made my day.
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More like much crops… snicker.
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How they do that?, didn’t know there are white rice leaf
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@ kew
with Photoshop!
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Nice artistic work.
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OMG! Ok, I have a hard time keeping 4 tomato plants alive. This is awesome.
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WOW~~So nice…
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ART FOR RICE SAKE!
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eh, eh, eh, ;)
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Wish i had known about this when I was in Japan!!
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Hubby and I are going there next year…. woooot… we are gonna see this… absolutely AMAZING!!!! And NO… there is NO Photoshopping done here…
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I have one rice plant on my shelf in the kitchen. Is it possible to create any of these gigantic illustrations with it?
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Surely you jest – you can’t be serious unless you are monumentally deluded!
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AWESOME!
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Very beautiful,and creative. Wish there were more agricultural artists to improve all countries while providing food as well.
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Isn’t the Sengoku-period warrior in the first picture Kanetsugu?? His armor (esp his helmet) looks very similar to Kanetsugu’s armor.
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xleent creativity…….
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Absolutely fantastic rice art!I always been impressed by the Japanese art.
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Awesome , fantastic Japanese rice art!
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SUPERB
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i like it….
it’s very_2 Fantastic…
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Aw GOD!
that’s awesome!
someday I’ll travel to there and see that closer X3
those pics are amazing
I never expected there were so many colors of rice plants
:3
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Yes, The ‘Sengoku warrior’ IS Kanetsugu.
The other ricefield pictures of him are in Yonezawa, the ‘next town over’ from Yamagata city, where I live. Seeing these posted and getting attention abroad lets me feel proud of this amazing production here. But the odd thing is, I didn’t see much about it at all in the local press, haven’t heard it talked about at all. Strange.
We need to see more GOOD NEWS like this get attention!!
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Inspirational. It’s amazing what a dream will lead to when it is followed.
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