Rice Harvesting Time Is Here!!!

22nd September 2007

Almost 5 months since the planting season has passed and this is what the rice crop looks like!

A close up of the rice grains

A last minute decision by the neighbours and Naomi's family on this hot and humid supposedly autumn morning to harvest the rice was made and I jumped in the car and drove 75km from where I live in Tojo to help out! Check out the photos to see how the harvesting is done!

The above picture shows the nifty machine that is used to harvest the rice. It is capable of cutting two rows of rice crops at once. Once each crop is cut at the base the machine then rotates it to its side on a conveyer belt as you can see below which it then somehow threshes the grains one by one placing them into a bag which holds around 25kg of the small grains.

I wasn't able to have a go controlling the machine just in case I destroyed a years supply of rice but I did get to try cutting the crops the old fashioned way by hand! I was pretty much doing what the machine does except I didn't have to thresh the grains off the crop, instead, I collected a few bundles, tied them together ready to be put through the machine manually. It was fun for a while until I realised that it would take a very very long time to harvest the whole crop this way!

After it bucketed down with rain and blew a gale in the afternoon causing us to briefly retire for about 30 minutes, the guy on the machine working his way in from the outside in circles all day harvested the last row of rice! Naomi and carried the last 25kg bag in a wheelbarrow up to where we stacked the other 75 or so bags and wiping off the dripping sweat on our necks the pros came to transport the harvested rice to the rice centre where each grain will be dried and the outside layer peeled off and put into bags which will supply Naomi's family with their staple food for another year! Stay tuned for a photo of the first rice!

The machine sweeps up the last standing rice crop

and the brings this years harvesting to an end!

A Walk through Taishakukyo!

Saturday, 16th June 2007
Onbashi, Taishakukyo, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan
広島県帝釈峡雄橋（おんばし）

10km west of Tojo Town, where I am living now, is the northern gateway to the Taishaku Gorge National Park. From the carpark, a refreshing 20 minute walk through the beautiful greenery along the running river takes you to the naturally formed rock formation called 'Onbashi' literally meaning male bridge. The formation is said to have formed from water running from up above gradually weakening the underlaying rock and collapsing to form what now remains a bridge like structure. It is 90 metres long, 40 metres high and 19 metres in breadth.

Wakunaga Seiyaku Gardens

Saturday, 9th June 2007
Wakunaga Seiyaku Gardens, Koda Town, Akitakata City, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan
湧永製薬公園・広島県安芸高田市甲田町

After lazing at home all day waiting for rain, the clouds cleared up and the sun came out from behind and thought we should make the most of the beautiful weather before the rainy season kicks in this month. We went to the Wakunaga Seiyaku Gardens which is about a 10km drive from Naomi's house. The Garden is named after a man called Mr Wakunaga who created the gardens for the townspeople and for the research and development of herbs and flora to discover new medinces. The Garden is very well kept and is open most of the year with different floral exhibitions in each season. The roses are in full bloom at the moment which we got to enjoy.

A nice place to relax and enjoy the fresh air!

yellowish red rose

pale purple rose

Naomi's best shot!

A trip to Tottori Prefecture

The Hiroshima prefecture/Tottori prefecture border around 700m above sea level

広島県と鳥取県の県境　１８３号線

Saturday 5th May 2007

This was the the last couple of days of the Golden Week before returning to a regular week and Naomi and I planned to drive to Tottori Prefecture which is to the north west of Hiroshima Prefecture. Tottori City is at the far east end and is a good 3 1/2 hour drive from Mukaihara where Naomi lives through winding mountain roads up to 700 metres above sea level before going downhill again once reaching the border. We left at 6am to avoid traffic and to get the most out of the day. We eventually reached the half way point and saw through the haze the outline of one of the highest mountains in western Japan, Daisen which rises to 1729 metres. Daisen slowly disappeared as we continued on and had our first stop in a place called Kurayoshi where there are old Shoyu (Soy Sauce) production houses and some retro looking buildings and cafes. There is also a beautiful park where you can go for a walk. It encloses a small zoo which is free to enter and has a few types of animals including a couple peacocks where some guy was trying to scare them stamping his feet and clapping his hands loudly. We had morning tea in a small cafe behind the tourist information office which is run by a few university students before continuing out journey to Tottori City.

Utsufuki Park
打吹公園
Japanese style garden with this springs new green

Seaside Cafe for lunch on the Japan Sea coastline

Desert in Japan?
鳥取砂丘

Who would have thought that a land made up entirely of mountains would have a so called 'desert'?! Well in Tottori, a few kilometres to the east of the city there is a massive 10km strip of sand dunes. Some sections can be as wide as 2km and from the shoreline the dunes rise steeply before dropping back down to a basin type area. Having been in Japan for 4 years I was pretty impressed to see sand dunes of this size here! The weather was a little wet so the camels they have out on the dunes took a day off as it seems they don't like rain! We walked from the car park to an entrance to the sand dunes, took our shoes off and walked in damp sand all the way up the sand mountain top and back down to the shoreline to have a paddle in the Japan Sea! What amazed me the most was that about 95% of the tourists were walking on the dunes with either their own shoes on OR with shin high gumboots on which were for hire!

The path we took!

Naomi climbing the steep sand dune mountain!

Us at the highes point of the sand dunes with Tottori in the background


Paddling in the Japan Sea with the sand dunes in the background

Uradome Coastline
浦富海岸・山陰海岸国立公園

destination reached

A few kilometres to the east of the Tottori sand dunes is a strip of spectacular coastline part of the San-in Coast National Park. We parked at the Uradome-kaigan boat tour jetty and boat tickets for a half-hour long guide along the rugged headlands. The sea was a little rough so the boat was rocking from side to side making me feel a little queasy but I managed to take some photos of the naturally weathered rock formations and hidden beaches. Afterwards we drove to the top of the coastline, parked the car and went for a walk along the somewhat paved walkway to the hidden beaches. The walk wasn't an easy one with some very steep sections weaving in and out of the rocks down to the beaches and by the time we returned to the car 2 hours later we were both wringing wet through with sweat!

view from the boat

One of the hidden beaches

hidden beach with a hollow rock formation to the right

rock formation out at sea with palm trees growning out from all angles!

Rice Planting Experience!

Naomi's House in Mukaihara, Hiroshima Prefecture

4th May 2007

Today marked my first experience planting rice in Japan. Naomi's dad was up early at the crack of dawn before heading out into the rice field with the rice planting machine that can plant three rows at once. In the picture you can see that he has to walk with the machine to guide it in a straight line. Most modern day machines allow you to sit on it and let the machine do it for you planting up to 6 rows at once although I am sure there are bigger machines for bigger fields with bigger prices!

Naomi's dad with the rice planting machine

Most people plant the rice around the beginning of May and harvesting usually takes place in October. The rainy season that kicks in around June provides most of the water that the rice requires to grow.

Naomi's dad at the half way point!

Naomi's dad got the rice planted in around 3 hours (10:30am) followed by a cold beer and snacks before we all got in the field to carry out the rather tedious task of placing extra rice plant sprouts in places where the machine missed. As the rice field is just wet mud knee high I got to wear my own rice planting boots! As I took my first step into the field I almost fell in and after a few close calls I managed to get my balance and mastered how to walk in mud! At times my leg almost slipped out of the boot as I tried to pull my leg out from behind to take another step. We had baskets tied around our waists and with rice sprouts in one hand and bending down looking for spots that needed to be topped up we got on with the task.

Me passing a bunch of rice sprouts to be planted

It was definitely an interesting experience that does require a fair bit of energy but as Naomi said to me, it is rewarding at the dinner table when you know that what you are eating is what the family worked hard to make together not to mention it costing a whole lot less than buying it in the shop.

View from Naomi's house with their rice paddy and the Geibi Line that runs to central Hiroshima 45km away

Spring Excursion!

Walking Course - 6.5km

It rained the day Yawata Primary School was supposed to have their Spring Excursion so it got moved to Wednesday which, lucky for me, happened to be the day I go to the school for English! We had an early 8:30am departure from the school not by bus but by foot! It was my first time to go on a school walking excursion and we had 6.5km to walk by 3pm! The weather was cloudy for the first half of the morning and looked like it was going to rain but we were lucky. The Primary school has about 40 children in total from Years 1 through to the Year 6s. We walked in a straight line along the old main road passing the local Junior High School which due to the lack of children in the area has been closed for the time being.

The start of our 6.5km adventure

The closed Yawata Junior High School

We passed many rice paddy's which are being prepared for the rice growing season. We then turned towards the mountains and walked up a pretty steep mountain road for a couple kms where we stopped for some morning tea before have a local volunteer talk to the students about the nature in the area. We learnt that there were around 270 different types of cherry trees in Japan and counted the petals on three types, one having 70 or so petals!

A talk about cherry trees

A surprise for the students

The guide showed us a lookout and we enjoyed the view of the Kawadori area.

View of the Kawadori area with a dozen rice paddy's

After taking some photos and saying goodbye to the guide we continued down hill before arriving at our lunch destination, Yawata Temple. The temple has quite a grand entrance with the path up to the temple surrounded by countless Japanese Cedar trees which are over 1000 years old and some of the tallest trees I have seen in Japan.

Entrance to Yawata Temple



The huge Japanese Cedar trees

The school bento 'lunchbox' arrived and we sat in little groups and ate lunch. Afterwards the Buddhist Priest talked to the kids about the history of Yawata and the temple on the steps of the main hall.

A word about the history of Yawata

The kids were also lucky enough to receive some little snacks and juice from the priest as we departed the temple for the final leg back to the school. It was a great day and I was a little tired from walking but glad to have been able to learn about the beautiful area that the children live in.

Yamazakura

Yamazakura （山桜）is a late blooming type of cherry tree. Tojo-cho, where I am living now is home to one of the biggest trees of its kinds in Hiroshima Prefecture. The first is Chidori Besshaku which is on the news every year and attracts thousands of people from all over Japan to gaze at its beauty. To get to the tree you have to drive along the very narrow two way Route 12 which is frightening to drive along with rice paddy's on the side with no guard-rail and no room for another car to pass by but is worth it!

5th April 2007
bear tree

25th April 2007
full blossom

30th April 2007
full bloom - deeper colours