This year's selection of rice paddy art has begun to crop up in fields across Japan.

Rice paddy crop art in Japan, 2010 --
Rice paddy art in Inakadate (Aomori prefecture) [photo]

Two historical figures -- the legendary warrior-monk Benkei (left) and the warrior Ushiwakamaru, a.k.a. Minamoto no Yoshitsune (right) -- have emerged in a pair of fields in the Aomori prefecture town of Inakadate. For nearly 20 years, the town has prided itself as home to Japan's finest rice crop art, which is created by carefully arranging different colors of rice plants in the field.

Rice paddy crop art in Japan, 2010 --
Benkei (left) and Ushiwakamaru (right) [photo]

Rice paddy crop art in Japan, 2010 --
Benkei [photo]

Rice paddy crop art in Japan, 2010 --
Ushiwakamaru [photo]

Rice paddy crop art in Japan, 2010 --
Ushiwakamaru in late June [photo]

Rice paddy crop art in Japan, 2010 --
View of Ushiwakamaru at ground level [photo]

Rice paddy crop art in Japan, 2010 --
Ushiwakamaru [photo]

Rice paddy crop art in Japan, 2010 --
Benkei [photo]

Rice paddy crop art in Japan, 2010 --
View of Benkei at ground level


+ Video of Inakadate rice paddy art (filmed in late June)

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Here are a few more works of rice paddy art from other parts of Japan.

Rice paddy crop art in Japan, 2010 --
Animals in Asahikawa (Hokkaido) [photo]

Rice paddy crop art in Japan, 2010 --
Animals in Asahikawa (Hokkaido) [photo]

Rice paddy crop art in Japan, 2010 --
Samurai Keiji Maeda in Yonezawa (Yamagata prefecture) [photo]

Rice paddy crop art in Japan, 2010 --
View from top of Keiji Maeda's head [photo]

Rice paddy crop art in Japan, 2010 --
Princess Okaiko, a local folklore figure, in the town of Shirataka (Yamagata prefecture) [photo]

Rice paddy crop art in Japan, 2010 --
Rice paddy art at Denpark in Anjo (Aichi prefecture) [via]

Rice paddy crop art in Japan, 2010 --
Rice paddy art at Sakakibara onsen (Mie prefecture) [photo]

Rice paddy crop art in Japan, 2010 --
Ducks near Fukushimagata Lagoon Water Park (Niigata prefecture) [via]

Rice paddy crop art in Japan, 2010 --
Ground level view of ducks near Fukushimagata Lagoon Water Park (Niigata prefecture) [photo]

Rice paddy crop art in Japan, 2010 --
Ducks near Fukushimagata Lagoon Water Park (Niigata prefecture) [via]

Rice paddy crop art in Japan, 2010 --
Buddhist sword dancer and Anpanman in the Mizusawa area (Iwate prefecture) [photo]

Rice paddy crop art in Japan, 2010 --
Anpanman in the Mizusawa area (Iwate prefecture) [photo]

More:
- Rice paddy art, 2009
- Time-lapse video of rice paddy art, 2008
- Rice paddy art harvest, 2007
- Rice paddy art, 2007