Rice Paddies Double Up As Works Of Art

What's so exciting about rice growing in fields? Not much! Unless of course you are in Japan, where even rice paddies are turned into giant works of art!

It all began in 1993, when the 9,000 residents of Inakadate, an agricultural village in Japan's Aomori prefecture, were brainstorming about ways to way to revive the economy by attracting tourists. However, given its location on a rather mundane piece of flat land they did not have much to offer until - Someone came up with a brilliant idea.

Why not turn the rice paddy fields into works of art? So, in 1993 villagers used four different colored rice seeds and planted them on one of their fields in such a way that when they sprouted, they would appear to be a giant work of art - That year, over 200,000 people came to visit this hitherto unknown village and, a tradition was born!

For the next nine years, the villagers and office workers planted the same design - Their neighboring stratovolcano, Mt. Iwaki. But as years have gone by, the rice sculptures have not only become bigger, but also, more complex and colorful, with the addition of new strains of rice.

Today, the 'paddy art' is first sketched by illustrators, then plotted by digital artists and finally, planted by volunteers from the village. The images range from historical landscapes and figures to contemporary television characters and one year even included the famous Mona Lisa or should we say - Mona Riza!

In fact, the paddy art has become so popular that neighboring villages have started making their own versions too - However, Inakadate's creations remain amongst the best and biggest!

Resources: Dailymail.co.uk, gardendesign.com