Rice Paddy Art 2021 in Gyoda

Rice is a staple food in Japan.
So, there are rice fields all over Japan.
Rice paddy art that makes pictures on the paddy is being done in some places.
Among them, I saw the largest rice paddy art in Gyoda.
I hear that it is the largest in the world and has been registered in Guinness.
Gyoda city is located about 1 hour trip by train from Tokyo.

The rice paddy art in Gyoda has been done since 2008, and this year’s designs are very Japanese.
On the left and center, Mt. Fuji and Shiranami (Great wave) of Katsushika Hokusai, which is famous ukiyo-e, are drawn.
Ukiyo-e is a genre of traditional Japanese painting.
And a picture of a Kabuki actor is drawn on the right.

I am surprised that the face of the Kabuki actor is well drawn by planted rice.
The Shiranami (Great wave) on the left side are also dynamic!
This year’s drawings are really amazing.

Size

The size is overwhelming.
It is drawn on a rice paddy of about 28,000 square meters.
A 50-meter line is written on the road in front.
Guessing from that, it seems that the width is over 150 meters.
It’s amazing how well such a big picture is drawn.

Planted rice

Rice paddy art in 2021 Gyoda from a close distance

If you approached paddy, it looks like this.
You can’t see the whole thing, and it must be difficult to recognize what is drawn.
It is just part of the hand of kabuki actors.
Different varieties of rice are planted to make pictures.
They are not painted.
It is rice’s original colour.

Looking at the brown part from a close distance, it looks like this.

The green part from a close distance, is like this.

The observation tower

There is an observation tower nearby.
I took the pictures from the top of this tower.
You can look down from 50m above the ground.
The tower is part of the ancient lotus museum.
Entrance fee is 400 yen. (as of Augsut 2021)

We can enjoy the rice paddy art until harvest time.

Access

Gyoda Station, which is about an hour away from Tokyo Station on the JR Takasaki Line, is the closest.
It takes about 20 minutes by city circulation bus (sightseeing base circulation course) from Gyoda Station.
However, the number of buses is small. (Only 9 busses a day operated, as of August 2021)