Category Archives: Photos

HOKKAIDO, Nov. 7 — A bright golden line of trees stands out against green wheat fields and brown Chinese yam fields in the town of Memuro, Hokkaido, as larches and Sakhalin spruces which make up Japan’s longest windbreak forest are turning color. The 9.2-kilometer-long, 65-meter-wide forest, located west of Prefectural Route 62, was designated by the central government as a windbreak forest in 1922. The forest helps weaken the strong winds descending the Hidaka Mountain Range and reduce the impact of the winds blowing away or drying the soil. A farmer who conducts crop rotation near the windbreak, growing wheat and beets, says the forest protects the crops from being … Continue reading →

HYOGO, Oct. 22 – A gigantic broccoli welcomes visitors to Kobe at the observation deck of Kobe Airport in Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture. It’s a 3-meter-tall 500-kilogram artwork named “Broccoli” made of fiber-reinforced plastic. It was made in 2022, inspired by one of the miniature creations of a Japanese photographer. Today, it’s a famous photo spot. Kobe city has approximately 66 hectares of fields producing broccoli. “We want people to learn about our locally produced broccoli and eat it after seeing this,” a Kobe City government official said. “This is so big. We are surprised,” a mother and her daughter from Ono City, Hyogo Prefecture, said.

GIFU, Oct. 2 ― The Nagara River, considered one of Japan’s three clearest rivers and known for the ayu sweetfish fishing, supports a population of 860,000 people living in the basin from upstream through downstream. Ayu of the Nagara River was designated as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in 2015 as satokawa, a river that enriches the lives of people in various forms including culture, industry and traditional craftwork. Seiryu Nagara River Ayu Park in the city of Gujo located in the upstream of the river allows visitors to experience live decoy fishing called tomozuri and ayu hand grabbing, as well … Continue reading →

FUKUOKA, Jul. 25 – In Itoshima City, Fukuoka Prefecture, you’ll see this open field of chrysanthemum plants aglow at night. Motoyuki Inoue, vice chairman of the flower business committee of a local agricultural cooperative in Fukuoka (JA Itoshima), has 80-are outdoor light-culture chrysanthemum beds and 37-are greenhouses. In the greenhouses, he grows chrysanthemums twice a year. The 55-year-old man currently lights the plants with red light-emitting diode (LED) lamps and orange fluorescent lamps from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. The chrysanthemum is a short-day plant that flowers when the day is shorter than the night. So, the artificial lighting can make the plants develop buds late and bloom at the … Continue reading →