An Autumn Charm - Look down Japan's Giant "Rice Paddy Art"

Think of the Nazca geoglyph site; think of an expanse of rice field itself a huge canvas of some cool drawings - done not with stones but several different kinds of rice plants.

Think of keywords that link you to Japan - flower arrangement, tea ceremony, samurai, ninja, anime, etc. Now, add to the list a new keyword: Rice Paddy Art.

Autumn come, a half of Japan is painted gold, not of the precious metal but of the color of rice fields rich with full-grown rice ready for harvesting. Rice is harvested once up north and twice down south, meaning Southern Japan is painted gold twice a year.

Now, make believe you were a bird flying above the fully ripen rice fields. If you are lucky, you will spot from above pictures "painted" in the rice fields - pictures of all sorts, even Mona Lisa.

This is what is lately in vogue in Japan - Rice Paddy Art. Colorful pictures "drawn" on a gold-canvas. It's a Nazca Geoglyph Site idea and you are to appreciate them from a distance, hopefully from above. You travel by train this time of year and come across such rice paddy art.

Now, how is it made? It's certainly not rice plants painted in colors, no. They will sketch pictures of their choice, decide on colors to use, and select kinds of rice that grow up in such colors. Farmers will prepare several kinds of seedlings in the rice nursery and early in June plant the grown seedlings out to the rice fields precisely as sketched ahead of time.

Rice has come a long way through the ages branching out in rich varieties suitable for localities. Some of them are somewhat brownish, and others purplish when full grown. Japan is the land of art and its artistic sensitivity betrays even in nature.

Come visit Japan in autumn, and give yourself a chance to enjoy Rice Paddy Art.