A patchwork of rice and soba fields is seen Ojiya, Niigata Prefecture.
A patchwork of golden rice plants and white soba buckwheat flowers is in full harvest in the Ikegahara district of Ojiya, Niigata Prefecture.
In the Ikegahara district, which mainly produces rice, such patchwork landscape has been seen in autumn since around 2000, when farmers began cultivating soba to rotate crops.
This year, harvesting started on Sept. 10 and combines are plowing on in the fields lining up in geometric patterns.