This photo was taken about a week and a half ago. The paddies in Otaki have been flooded to allow for rice seedlings to be planted. This is known a ta-ue 田植. The process creates in the landscape a set of parallel worlds stacked vertically upon one another. I wonder, sometimes, if one is truer than the other.Rice seedlings sprouted early this year and so ta-ue was also moved up about a week. Residents continue to tell me how unusual this year is. Global warming tends to be the favored culprit as I probe deeper with questions.
How will the Otaki community respond to a changing climate? Will it be as simple as planting a week early? How can human members of the community predict some of the changes ahead? What can they do now to prepare?
Contemplations sprouting from rice paddies.
3 comments:
In my neck of the woods the rice is a couple of weeks late being planted because of the unseasonably cool weather :)
That picture is so simple and yet it is such a peaceful and beautiful picture with the lines and reflections and the color.
Many thanks for this interesting post - and for keeping us up to date with the effects of global warming on Japan, if such they are. I believe that an official report estimated that a warmer climate might increase Japan's rice production by 7% ....
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