Rice Planting

On Fridays I teach at an agriculture high school. I was excited to learn about this assignment before moving to Akita, because I grew up visiting my Grandparents' dairy farm. I was even active in 4-H as a kid and in Future Farmers of America for one year of high school. So I was excited that I was able to participate in a little bit of Japanese farming - rice planting. Every year, the first year students spend a Friday afternoon planting rice. It seems that it is a tradition.

Here are the rice plants.


These students are planting the rice plants. Notice the standing water. All the rice fields have been flooded.



After the students left the rice fields, a teacher explained to me that last year people who live near the school's rice fields complained that the students did not do a good job of planting the rice. If you look carefully in the picture below, you can see straight machine-planted rows on the left and student planted rice on the right.


To avoid this problem this year, a teacher planted new plants on top of the student plants. Or the machine straightened the plants that were already there. I am not sure how it worked, but while he was doing this, he invited me to drive the rice planting machine. Unfortunately, in the pictures I have, I am only standing to the side. But, he did let me drive. I don't think my rows were as straight as his.



Here are some students washing their feet after standing in the muddy rice field.