by Gyoda City, Saitama Prefecture, announced the design of this year’s “Rice Paddy Art.” Draws three main characters, including Aoi Ashito, the main character of the popular soccer anime “Aoashi.”
Aoashi is a story about the struggles of high school students set in the youth team of a J-League club. Broadcast on NHK E-Tele, the original manga is serialized by Yugo Kobayashi in “Weekly Big Comic Spirits.” Mayor Naohiko Ishii said, “There will be a soccer World Cup this year, and I hope we can contribute to the excitement.”
Rice field art is carried out by the “Rice Field Art Rice Making Experience Business Promotion Council” (Secretariat, Municipal Agricultural Administration Division) made by farmers. In the paddy field of about 2.8 hectares (170 meters long and 165 meters wide) of the city’s tiny needles, the design emerges using four different varieties of rice. It is said to be the largest globally, and about 80,000 people visited last year.
Volunteers plant rice in mid-June, and the best time to see it is from mid-July to late October. (Yasuhiro Teramoto)
