Around the end of May to early June, some people in Japan become a bit restless, and you might wonder why that is. It is because ‘taue’ (rice planting season) has started again! It is not necessarily only farmers who get excited around this time of year.
The Rice Planting Season Feeling
Just like the season of the cherry blossoms, this season also only lasts for a short time. And that is what makes the view of the reflection of the sky in the just-completed paddy fields so irresistible. It is a scene of fleeting beauty and the passage of time, just like the famous pink blossoms. The watered paddies turn to a huge mirror and reflect the wide sky on the shallow water, and because the seedlings grow to 20 -25cm in height within 2 weeks, it takes only around 10 days to cover the paddies with grass which will make the beautiful reflective water disappear.
Unlike other agricultural farming, rice-farming has been regarded as very sacred in Japan because it was believed that each grain of rice has a god‘s spirit in it in ancient times. Why would that be? I think it might have something to do with the ‘water mirror’. A very long time ago, mirrors were highly valued and believed to have magical powers.
So, the rice which grows in the ‘water mirror’ must have been believed to have some spiritual power.
Anyway, what I wanted to say is just try to find the beautiful scenery of the water mirror. If you happen to travel to Japan late May-early June, you can get some special spiritual power from delicious Japanese rice. An added bonus is that the late spring season also brings with it nice weather. There are comfortable warm temperatures and usually not too much rain yet as the rainy season is yet to start.
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