Rice paddy fields functioning as a canvas for art

Nearly twenty years ago, Koichi Hanada, a clerk in the village hall of Inakadate, Japan, was asked by his manager to think of ways to increase visitor numbers to their small community in rural north Japan - a village with apple trees and rice paddies and little else.

Struggling to come up with solutions, Hanada chanced upon a group of schoolchildren planting a rice paddy as a school project; he noticed that they were planting two types of rice plants, one with dark purple stalks and the other bright green. And it struck him – why not plant them in such a way as to create words and pictures?

Since 1993 the villagers have been creating art in this unique way and getting more and more creative. With over 170,000 visitors coming to this small community of just over 8,000 people, Koichi Hanada has certainly succeeded in bringing attention to his small village.

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