Shiga

Rice Harvest in Shiga Prefecture

Fields of yellow and gold beside Lake Biwa

Cathy Cawood Nov 03, 2014 - 1 min read

<p>Bundles of rice straw in a harvested field</p>

<p>Rice straw was traditionally used to make tatami mat, rice paper, straw rope, sandals and many other items.</p>

<p>A straight road between the rice fields is a wonderful place to cycle</p>

<p>Persimmon fields near a field of stubble</p>

<p>The houses are bigger in the countryside</p>

<p>Fields of ripening rice stretch toward the mountains</p>

<p>Bundles of rice straw hung on rails to dry</p>

<p>Color contrast between ripening rice and another crop</p>

<p>A curving green path between fields</p>

<p>Rice straw and red spider lilies beside a rice field</p>

<p>Narrow road on the edge of a tiny country town  </p>

<p>A rice vending machine in Nagahara</p>

I love to cycle in the countryside at rice harvest time, and nowhere in Japan is the agricultural scenery more beautiful than in North-West Shiga Prefecture, where the yellow fields of ripe rice mixed with fields of golden stubble are laid out between the nearby mountains and Lake Biwa. Often flowers edge the fields and bundles of rice straw dry in the September sunshine. Blue dragonflies swoop over the rice, and huge grasshoppers bound across the path between the fields. Ripe rice has a strong smell, and some people hate it. Not me! I'm a country girl at heart!

Cathy Cawood @cathy.cawood

I came to Japan in 2003 to teach English. I lived in Shiga prefecture for 1 year, and it still holds a special place in my heart. I lived in Kyoto for 9 years, then moved to Machida, Tokyo in 2014 after meeting my Japanese partner. I love to take photos, and my Japan in Pictures Facebook page ha...