{"id":2965,"date":"2018-05-29T11:39:19","date_gmt":"2018-05-29T02:39:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/rice-planting-events-hiroshima\/"},"modified":"2025-08-28T11:35:04","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T02:35:04","slug":"rice-planting-events-hiroshima","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/ja\/rice-planting-events-hiroshima\/","title":{"rendered":"Rice Planting Events in Hiroshima"},"content":{"rendered":"

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I<\/span> always recommend venturing out of the city if you can. Rural Hiroshima Prefecture is a knockout, and this is a wonderful time of year. The spring foliage still shows its fresh, pale green on the hills, and the worst of the summer heat is weeks away. <\/span><\/p>\n

Most of the towns in the Hiroshima countryside are farming communities, and as elsewhere in the world, both planting and harvest are major yearly events. In Hiroshima, you have a unique chance to see a rice planting ritual with roots in the distant past. In fact, in 2003 the Mibu no Hanadaue ritual was singled out for inclusion on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage List. And it really is a spectacle worth the trip.<\/span>
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\n<\/span>The planting itself is preceded by a children\u2019s parade, folk dancing, and a parade of the powerful and colorfully costumed bulls that are used to plow the paddies in advance of planting. The bulls themselves are a major draw, and in recent years are increasingly hard to find. But for the moment, they still form a core part of the ritual, as they\u2019re led into the fields to draw the plows through the sod. After they\u2019re finished, women called \u2018saotome,\u2019 the rice planting maidens, form rows and set to work. In kimono and elegant straw hats, the maidens sing along to music provided by traditional musicians on drum and flute, moving in rhythm through the mud as they fix the new seedlings in the prepared paddies. It\u2019s unclear when exactly the ritual began, or whether the original purpose was primarily religious or simply entertainment, but it\u2019s picturesque enough to attract crowds of spectators and photographers.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition, there are performances of kagura, the shrine dances that are famous in this part of Japan, as well as the chance (if you\u2019re interested) to inspect farm equipment historically used in both rice paddy agriculture and the Hanadue ritual itself. A local saying holds that \u201cIt never rains on rice planting day,\u201d so get out there and see the countryside before the proper rainy season sets in.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re unable to make the trip, Shukkei-en garden in Hiroshima city center will offer a smaller rice planting event. The rice planting takes place in the garden\u2019s small rice field at the rear right of the garden as you face in from the main gate. The ceremony is accompanied by traditional music and dancing, both at the rice field and on the arched stone bridge crossing the garden\u2019s pond. There are also tea ceremonies held throughout the morning and afternoon at Shukkei-en\u2019s Seifukan, the garden\u2019s main teahouse. <\/span><\/p>\n

Additional Information<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Mibu no Hanadaue<\/h3>\n

Time<\/strong>: First Sundays in June. In 2018, that’s\u00a0June 3, 2018.<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n