Hokkaido’s Harvest Scenery: Autumn Edition
Hokkaido is known as Japan's food base, and is a treasure trove of a wide variety of foods, such as agricultural and livestock products, seafood, wine, sake and beer.
Autumn – from September to November – is the harvest season for fruits, potatoes and other root vegetables, rice, buckwheat and the like. It is also when marine products such as salmon and Pacific saury are landed.
We have gathered together some ‘taste of autumn’ harvest scenery, much anticipated by the people of Hokkaido.
Special feature
Harvesting of rice-paddy art
‘Rice-paddy art’ is a huge picture created using six types of colored rice plants, with the rice paddy as a canvas. Members of the executive committee, made up of individuals from the Young Farmers Division of the Taisetsu Agricultural Cooperative and the like, produced the rice paddies in the Higashitakasu 7-sen 18 district of the city of Asahikawa, and the rice harvesting was held on October 12th to conclude this season’s activities.
This year, efforts were made to prevent the further spread of Coronavirus infections as the observatory was opened to the public for the first time in two years. Since the rice was planted in mid-June, the giant picture has changed from vivid greens to the golden colors of autumn, delighting many visitors, especially during the peak viewing season in summer.
Fifteen members of the executive committee took part in the harvest. The rice that had grown in the paddy, which measures approximately 40 meters by 170 meters, took approximately two hours to reap using a combine harvester and hand-held scythes, bringing an end to the role of the design, which depicted the characters of Asahikawa City and Takasu Town handing over a baton.
The theme of this year’s rice-paddy art was ‘linking to the future’. “I hope that next year – the 17th year – too, we can create a design that gives us hope for the future,” said Mr. Hashimoto, head of the Young Farmers Division.
Location
Higashitakasu ‘Rice-paddy art’
Special feature
Autumn Hokkai shrimp fishing began on October 25 in Notsuke Bay in the town of Betsukai in the Nemuro region, with 23 ‘Utasebune’ boats belonging to the Notsuke Fisheries Cooperative leaving the po...
Autumn mantis-shrimp fishing season begins in Otaru
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Harvest autumn mosaic
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Harvesting of rice begins in earnest as ears turn golden
The harvesting of rice has begun in earnest in the town of Tobetsu in the Ishikari region of central Hokkaido, where rice production thrives. Due to the continuous intense heat of the summer this y...
The work of thinning-down the ‘Yamasachi’ vines – developed especially for wine-making – is reaching its peak in the vineyards of Chiyoda in the town of Ikeda in the Tokachi region of eastern Hokka...
First production of orange wine begins at Kitami winery
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The harvesting of the cone-shaped flowers of hops, which are used to make beer, is reaching its peak in the town of Kamifurano in northern Hokkaido. The hops grow on vines that extend to a height o...
First catch landed in Taiki as autumn salmon fishing begins on the Pacific coast in eastern Hokkaido
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Peak of potato harvest in Obihiro, Tokachi
This year’s potato harvest is reaching its peak in Hokkaido’s potato-producing region in the city of Obihiro. Due to the hot temperatures and lack of rain in July, the potatoes are smaller than usu...
Matsumae Kagura in buckwheat fields
The Matsumae Kagura (sacred Shinto dance), which is a designated important intangible folk-cultural property of Japan, was held in a buckwheat field in Sengen in the town of Fukushima in the Oshima...
Fifty large boats leave three ports to fish for Pacific saury off the coast of eastern Hokkaido
The ban on large-scale fishing vessels (at least 100 tons), which are the mainstay of Pacific-saury net fishing in eastern Hokkaido, was lifted on August 20. Despite the forecast of low numbers of ...
The harvesting of carrots has begun in earnest in the town of Otofuke in the Tokachi region of eastern Hokkaido, which boasts the most prolific production in Hokkaido.