It Is The Time Of Year,

that the rice pictures really come to life,

in the Japanese village of Inakadate, in Aomori Prefecture, rice has been planted not for it's obvious reason, to be eaten, but as a growing work of art, the seeds were planted in June, have now grown and filled out the canvas, rendering versions of Leonardo da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” and Seiki Kuroda’s “Lakeside,” which depicts his wife Taneko Kaneko, as it happens we have featured the rice art a few times before,

seven different varieties of rice are planted in early June according to detailed blueprints (pictured above). They take roughly 1 month to grow, slowly filling out and completing the artwork, which was unveiled today in Japan, spectators can visit the rice paddy through the months of July and August but the colors begin to fade around mid-August, 

this is Inakadate Village’s another attempt at depicting Mona Lisa in their race paddies,

the one above on our blog in 2015, not so many varieties of rice then, but now so many different varieties of rice to choose from, if you can not travel to Inakadate Village, last year they started live-streaming their rice paddies and posting daily photos, You can see it all here, fascinating to see I am sure, but I guess you really need a drone for the full effect.

Keeping To An Art Theme,

here is rice paddy art,

 we have featured rice paddy art before, and this year from the same village, every year around this time Inakadate Village in Japan’s Aomori prefecture transforms their rice paddies into a gigantic canvas for art,this year they’re celebrating the 90th Anniversary of manga artist OsamuTezuka,

 Tezuka was born in 1928 and during his lifetime produced some of the most famous and long-lasting manga like Tetsuwan Atom (Astro Boy), Ribon no Kishi (Princess Knight) Jungle Taitei (Jungle Emperor Leo) and Black Jack, these iconic works were featured in the rice paddy, which was just unveiled yesterday the12th, 

different varieties of rice are planted according to blueprints in early June,they take roughly 1 month to grow, slowly filling out and completing the artwork, which is then unveiled in July,spectators can visit the rice paddy through the months of July and August but the colours begin to fade around mid-August, now here is the good news, if you can not make it to Inakadate Village last year they started live-streaming their rice paddies and posting daily photos,You can see it all here, I still wish I was there though.

The Rice Art Season Is Here,

and this year it looks even better than ever,

 it is a strange thing that the rice growers here at Inakadate, in Aomori Prefecture, Japan, make a better living by growing rice pictures to look at rather than growing the rice to eat!

 We featured the village some time ago way back in 2015, but now thought it was time for a revisit, in order to increase tourism to the small village, officials began a traditional of creating large, elaborate images by strategically plantings different varieties of rice, nearly 25 years later, the town is known throughout the country for its colourful rice drawings, which occur each year with the help of hundreds (and sometimes thousands) of local volunteers,

to begin the process for upcoming designs, there is first a conference to discuss possible ideas, next government officials make simple computer mock-ups of the winning designs, which are then sent to local art teachers for more conceptual renderings, 

finally, markers are placed into the fields to create what is essentially a large-scale paint-by-number, the entire process taking up to three months, in this years pictures a total of 7 different rice varieties were used, some of the designs for this year included the legend of Yamata no Orochi, (eight forked serpent), and Susanoo, (Shinto God of the sea and storms), and a folk tale featuring Momotaro, (the Peach Boy),

You can see more images of the famous rice paddy fields in the video above, Who knows what stories will be featured in next years crop? amazing!

Rice Planting Time,

but with a difference,

in the Japanese village of Inakadate, in Aomori Prefecture, rice has been planted not for it's obvious reason, to be eaten, but as a growing work of art,

each year these farmers plant rice of different color to create new artworks,

rice seedlings that have been genetically engineered to produce a variety of colors, black, dark red, yellow and white, which are mixed with the local green-leafed variety to produce intricate design,

 the designs are first worked out by computer,

 then hundreds of volunteers plant the rice as directed, 

 black and the normal green rice,

the results are best seen from above, and with this in mind viewing platforms are erected for the thousands of visitors flocking to see the rice field pictures, on the good news front there is no charge to view the rice fields, but with donations and helping volunteers it actually works out at a better investment for the farmers and the area around the fields than growing rice to eat!