COVERSTORY
#320
Rice Paddy Art, Inakadate, Japan
Inakadate, a village in Aomori
at the north end of the
Honshu mainland of Japan,
has succeeded in revitalising
itself by creating a unique
form of landscape art in their
rice paddies.
The rice paddy art began
in 1993 when purple and
yellow rice plants were used
to make a picture of Mt. Iwaki
along with letters on rice
paddies. The main purpose
behind the creation was
to take advantage of the
tradition of manual work
in rice cultivation to give
people an opportunity
to learn more about rice
farming and agriculture.
The rice paddy art uses
various coloured rice
plants as paint on a ricefield canvas. The massive
pictures are elaborately
designed using perspective
drawing methods to
make them look their
best when seen from the
observation platform.
The art has gained media
attention from domestic
and international media
because of its uniqueness.
Today, their rice paddy
art attracts over 200,000
visitors a year to this small
village with a population of
only 8,000.
November-December 2015 Travel Secrets  39