NIIGATA, Nov. 1 – An artwork that looks like farm equipment such as hoes and plows are floating in the air, are attracting attention in Tokamachi, Niigata Prefecture. The artwork, titled “Time of Farm tools,” is one of the programs of this year’s Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale, a world-class art festival held once every three years in Tokamachi and Tsunan in the prefecture. Contemporary artist Tatsuo Kawaguchi created the artwork using old farm equipment borrowed from farmers in Tokamachi. Kawaguchi hanged 22 farm tools from the ceiling with wires and fixed them. He asked local farmers to take postures of using the tools and pose while he measured the angles with … Continue reading →

KANAGAWA, Oct. 23 – A design company in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, has created beautiful coffins using igusa rush grass grown in Kyushu, the southernmost island of Japan. It’s an entirely new option that the company, doode, started to offer to match the diversifying funeral styles. The coffins featuring domestic materials are called “Midori no Okan,” which means a green coffin in Japanese. They are made of igusa rush grass grown in Fukuoka and Kumamoto Prefectures using traditional handicraft skills of “hanagoza” artisans in the Chikugo region in the southern part of Fukuoka Prefecture. (Hanagoza is a pretty traditional mattress made of igusa.) Toshin from Okawa City, Fukuoka Prefecture, weaves hanagoza, … Continue reading →

TOKYO, Oct. 16 – A growing number of fruit and vegetable producers are choosing paper containers for their products. In January 2021, FP Chupa Corporation, a Tokyo-based custom container manufacturer, introduced a new series of good-looking fruit and vegetable containers made of paper, successfully selling 500,000 already. The “Kami Vege” series packages (kami means paper in Japanese) are made of water-resistant paper and have holes to let some air through to keep the products fresh. There are four different sizes of black, red, and tomato-patterned versions, all with transparent windows. They are particularly popular among female farmers and fancy supermarkets. FP Chupa also released paper fruit trays in June this … Continue reading →

CHIBA, Oct. 17 – This year’s harvesting and drying of peanuts started in Chiba Prefecture, Japan’s top producer of peanuts. In the city of Yachimata, a major peanut producing area in Chiba, so-called “bocchi,” heaps of upturned peanut plants, sit on the fields for drying. Having well-draining volcanic ash soil, Yachimata is suited for cultivation of peanuts which are resistant to dryness. The cold and dry wind that blows in the region in October helps add sweetness to peanuts. Production of peanuts is believed to have begun in Yachimata in 1896, as farmers in the area with scarce water resources were looking for items to replace paddy-field rice. Cultivation area … Continue reading →