Category Archives: Photos

Kanagawa-based botanical garden creating a buzz with “one banana leaf” social distancing proposal

KANAGAWA, Jun. 23 – “Keep one-banana-leaf social distancing with others”. A botanical garden in Kamakura City, Kanagawa Prefecture, says so in its poster it recently created. It was posted on the walls and the Internet for encouraging visitors to maintain social distancing as a preventative measure against the novel coronavirus, catching the attention of many, especially among social networking service (SNS) users. Ofuna Botanical Garden in Kanagawa Prefecture had been closed since April 10 after the state of emergency declaration, but it reopened on June 9. On the same day, the botanical garden posted a picture of two staff members standing apart from each other with a long big banana … Continue reading

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[Letters with Noh no Ikebana in season] Colorful landscape of early summer

HIROSHIMA, May 8 – Noh no Ikebana is one form of flower arrangements. It’s mainly for farmers and arranges agricultural products as materials and farm instruments as containers. It often features the joy people find in different seasons and everyday lives in their hometowns. The new quarterly series of articles, “Letters with Noh no Ikebana in season,” has now begun to share a heart of hospitality (o-mo-te-na-shi in Japanese) that the lovers of Noh no Ikebana put in their works. We want to share our love for vegetables in season: Noh no Ikebana Club at Matsunagakita Branch of JA Fukuyama-shi (Hiroshima Prefecture) <Containers & Tools> A jag, a wood bucket, … Continue reading

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Green tea terraces in Okunagashima producing quality tea for quality time

SHIZUOKA, May 11 – Ashikubo region in Aoi Ward, Shizuoka Prefecture, is known as the origin of Shizuoka green tea. You’ll see beautiful stripes drawn with tea trees and stonewalls on the steep mountainside with a height difference of about 30 meters at the far end of Okunagashima village in the region. It’s “Okunagashima no dandan chabatake (green tea terraces in Okunagashima)” created almost 50 years ago by a local farmer. It once ran on the rocks, but currently, it’s run by locals and volunteers who are determined to preserve this precious agricultural landscape. The owner of the 3,000-square-meter green tea plantation is a 79-year-old local green tea grower, Kyoko … Continue reading

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Old cherry blossoms in full bloom decorating agricultural heritage

KANAGAWA, Apr. 2 – A someiyoshino cherry blossom tree in full bloom stands right next to “Kuji Ento Bunsui” in Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture as if it’s looking into the water. The tree of approximately 90 years old has long been a witness to the cylindrical water diversion which used to support local rice farmers. This year, the blossoms started to bloom on March 15, 10 days earlier than usual. The water diversion is a facility to divide water for agricultural use into multiple directions. The cylindrical water divider in Kuji was built in 1941. The water drawn from the “Nikaryo Yosui” made in the Edo era used to overflow … Continue reading

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[Joy of Noh no Ikebana] Any vegetable can be a star, says Yuriko Terashima, 66, from Ide Town, Kyoto Prefecture

“It was the time that I decided to help my family out on the farm as my kids were big enough. I began reading the Japan Agricultural News and saw some articles about Noh no Ikebana, which I found was very interesting. I decided to take on the challenge as I have the right materials at home. Each piece of materials looks gorgeous. Simple agricultural products I brought back from the farm are so brilliant in Noh no Ikebana. Vegetables in irregular sizes and shapes are something special to me. I sometimes hide them before somebody discards them. While I’m walking to the farm, I always look for something beautiful. … Continue reading

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