IWATE, Jun. 17 – Yamagata Town, Kuji City, Iwate Prefecture, is the only place to host a bullfight meet four times a year in the Tohoku (North Eastern) region in Japan. The meet, called Togyu in Japanese, is for local shorthorn bulls which are known to have strong backs and good patient. The fighters in this year’s June tournament called “Tsutsuji Basho” included a young bull of about 400 kilograms and the Yokozuna Champion of over 1 ton, and they all staged exciting games. The Hiraniwa Bullfighting Meet is held at a permanent bullring of a diameter of 2.2 meters on the Hiraniwa Highland. Bull handlers called seko scream and … Continue reading →

MIE, June 3 – A scenic grouping of 1,340 rice paddies in the town of Kiwa in Kumano, Mie Prefecture, is attracting visitors as one of the largest rice terraces in the country. Stretching out on a farmland totaling 7.2 hectares cut into the sides of a 150-meter-high slope, the small rice paddies of various sizes – about 0.3 ares in average – are filled with water before the rice planting season and shimmer in the sunlight, forming gentle arcs that look like fish scales. In May, farmers start planting rice, using two-row transplanters. Records show that the rice terraces were created some 900 years ago, and that there were … Continue reading →