Category Archives: Photos

【News】 JA turns Shinjuku Station virtual veggie shop on “831 (vegetable) day” (Sept. 1, 2015)

A huge virtual vegetable shop appeared in the Shinjuku subway station in Tokyo on August 31, 2015. Several vegetable shelves printed on huge posters were put up on the wall and three-dimensional wraparounds featuring a Japanese radish, corn, sweet potato, and three other vegetables were set up around the columns in the walkway. In Japan, August 31 is “the day of vegetables” because of the similarity in pronunciation of 8, 3 and 1 to the word “ya-sa-i (vegetables)” in Japanese. The creative display that started on the vegetable day was a campaign presented by JA (Japan Agricultural Co-operatives) Group for promoting vegetables grown in Japan. Many including families and foreign … Continue reading

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【News】 Lantern parade gives boost to hometown (Aug. 30, 2015)

Kentarou Tominaga – Paper lantern truck parade (Toyota-shi, Aichi Prefecture)  – August 14, the middle day of Japanese bon holidays in its old calendar, was the day for pickup trucks with big illuminated paper lanterns to parade down the roads in Obara district of Toyota-shi, Aichi Prefecture. The parade is held by local residents to welcome those who are home on holidays and to communicate how attractive and lively their living will be back in their hometown. The event started three years ago in order to encourage people who left the town for schooling or working to come home and enjoy reunion. In 2015, eight pickup trucks paraded down the … Continue reading

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【News】 Egret flowers spreading white wings (Aug. 20, 2015)

Kotaro Yamada In Isezaki-shi, Gunma Prefecture, 8,500 stocks of egret flowers are now in full bloom at “Egret Flower Show.” The show is held by a 71-year-old amateur plant grower, Hiroyuki Ishihara, to offer the public the chance to have a close look at the pearly white blossoms that resemble egret birds in flights. Egret flowers are one type of terrestrial orchids found in wetlands. It actually is one of the near threatened species listed in the Red List of the Ministry of the Environment of Japan. In Gunma Prefecture, it has already become extinct, according to the local government. In Ishihara’s greenhouse, tens of thousands of egret flowers are … Continue reading

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【News】 Gods, men and women in rice paddies (Aug. 2, 2015)

 Kentarou Tominaga –  Onda Matsuri (Aso-shi, Kumamoto Prefecture)  – Every year on July 28 in Aso-shi, Kumamoto Prefecture, a festival called Onda Matsuri is held to express hopes of local farmers for abundant harvests. A long procession of nearly two hundred locals including woman dressed all in white and carrying the meals for the gods (unari), portable shrines (mikoshi) and female rice planters (saotome) on horses walk around the farming village. The parade started at 11:30 a.m. at the sound of the drum. Fourteen unari, four mikoshi, ten horses and other attendants left Aso Shrine to make a round trip of approximately three kilometers through the village. According to the … Continue reading

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【Series】 World War II 70th Anniversary – Old shore artillery battery looking down at peaceful ocean (July 26, 2015)

Kentarou Tominaga, Kotaro Yamada and Hiroki Arai Miura-shi in Kanagawa Prefecture is known for producing a wide variety of high-quality vegetables. In one of the fields there, however, there is a round flat odd structure that actually fits in the place and everyday life of local residents. It is what remains from an old artillery battery, Kenzaki Battery, built by the Imperial Japanese Army. The facility was built in current Minamishitaura-machi in Miura-shi as a part of the Tokyo Bay Shore military bases developed in Meiji Era and during World War ll. A 6-meter-long 15-inch naval gun was located to protect Tokyo and Yokosuka Military Port. Less was known about … Continue reading

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