Friday, September 22, 2017

Do you know “Rice Paddy Art (Tanbo Art)”?

 “Rice Paddy Art (Tanbo Art)” is an activity that started recently where people create a design on actual rice paddies. There are many kinds of rice with naturally different colored leaves and the ears. “Rice Paddy Art (Tanbo Art)” takes advantage of the differences in plant colors to create a design, so it’s a design made by plants.

The art takes a long time to complete, because people need to plant many different types of rice seedlings following a blueprint in spring, and wait until fall. When all the plants are fully grown with ears, the intended design become clear.

The photos were taken in Hachioji City, Tokyo. This year is the 100th anniversary of Hachioji’s municipal system and many activities and events are being held. Takatsuki area in the city is the largest rice producing area in Hachioji and planned to make a “Rice Paddy Art (Tanbo Art)” for the celebration.

The design shows “A rabbit on the full moon”, because the town name “Takatsuki” contains a Japanese word “Tsuki (moon)”, and ancient people in Japan believed that rabbits are living on the moon.

The town people used more than ten different types of rice and it’s amazing to see the variety of colors that different rice plants have! You can enjoy the view until the end of this month before their harvest. The grains harvested from the various colors of rice will be used for public school lunch in the city.

It is the best time now to see the “Rice Paddy Art (Tanbo Art)” in Takatsuki Town! In addition, around the  “Rice Paddy Art (Tanbo Art)”, you can enjoy seeing a traditional view of rice producing area even though it is inside of Tokyo!

[WHEN] From September 16th to 30th , 2017
[WHERE] Takatsuki, Hachioji City 
There is a temporary tower for the “Rice Paddy Art” and you can see it from the parking below.
[PARKINGThere are two parking lots to see the “Rice Paddy Art (Tanbo Art)”. The one is besides Takatsyki Community Center and the other is riverside area.