| GUNMA, Dec. 31 – The year 2025 is the Year of the Snake in the Chinese zodiac, and in Minakami Town, Gunma Prefecture, a giant snake made of rice straw welcomes visitors again at Michi-no-Eki Takumi-no-Sato, one of Japan’s roadside stations.
The straw snake, measuring 7 meters in length and 1.8 meters in height, is built on a bamboo and wooden frame using rice straw grown locally in rice fields of approximately 1,000 square meters. It took approximately 3 weeks for local farmers and carpenters to make and prepare it for the start of display in November. On busy days, the roadside station has approximately 4,000 visitors who enjoy looking at it and taking photos. The display will continue until the end of January. “We want you to enjoy feeling the uniqueness of Satoyama natural landscape by looking at the straw art,” said Yu Honda, a 40-year-old representative of the Michi-no-Eki. (Reporter: Ryo Yamada)  The straw art for the Year of the Snake is made of locally grown rice straw. Many visitors take photos and use the pictures for their New Year‘s greeting cards. |