The Art of Rice

A Sengoku warrior on horseback

The name Inakadate usually doesn’t conjure up any specific imagery of Japan in one’s head. It has a population of around 8700 people and it is situated about 965km (600 miles) away north of Tokyo. Mount Fuji, vending machines, futuristic miniature technologies, karaoke, boxy cars, pokemon, anime, maid cafes, cosplayers, mechas … have nothing to do with this village in the Aomori prefecture. So why does Inakadate make it to JHYPE?

Every year, hundreds of volunteers and villagers in this rural town create rice field art by planting four different varieties of rice in late May across huge swathes of paddy fields in special patterns. Let’s have a look at some of the truly AMAZING works of rice crop art in Inakadate (and beyond).

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Goemon – A film by Kazuaki Kiriya

Goemon - A visual feast from Kazuaki Kiriya

Whilst many people outside Japan are familiar with Anime (Japanese animation), Manga (Japanese graphic novels/comics) and Doramas (Televised Japanese dramas), Japanese films are often a hit and miss affair.

I stumbled upon Goemon whilst I was flying home from Tokyo last September. I was familiar with Kazuaki Kiriya’s earlier film, Casshern, which is about one hour too long and 50 plots too many.

Despite that, it was achingly stylish. Think Bleach or Naruto meets Final Fantasy (the game, not the awful one off movie). So with some reservation, but in the Australian spirit of mateship, I gave Goemon a… go.

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