Traditional Harvesting Rice Experience　Part-3 -Arigato Project presented by Kokuryu Sake Brewing Corporation and its supporters-

As soon as the participants of "Arigato Project 2016" arrived at the rice field,

the farmer showed them how to harvest the rice plants safely. He repeated that they must be very careful not to cut themselves when reaping rice with sickles.

 

First, cut the bottom parts of rice plants with a sickle.
This looks simple and easy but it is not.

One must cut them from the right angle to cut them properly.

 

Second, one puts the two bunches of the cut rice plants as to resemble an alphabet “X”

and tie them with a string. This process is to dry the rice plants later.

 

And then, the farmer threshed the cut rice plants with a threshing machine.

 

Towards the end of the harvesting the rice plants, the farmer asked the participants for

riding the harvesting machine. Two of them volunteered. The machine was large and looked very powerful. As the farmer and the participants started driving in the large rice fields and harvesting them, so much of the rice plants were harvested right away which looked very exciting and interesting.

 

Because the farmer warned everyone at the beginning of the harvesting, no one was injured. However, because of the rain from a day before and early in the day, the rice field was soft which made it difficult for people to walk.

 

One of the Kokuryu staff fell holding the rice plants. The rice plants were not damaged at all but he got mud all over himself. What a kind person caring the rice plants rather than himself.

I am sure that there will be good and delicious sake completed with the caring!

 

 

From beginning to end, everyone concentrated on harvesting so they finished much earlier. They even got to harvest other areas of the rice fields that day.

They all looked relieved and had smiles on their faces after finishing the harvest.

They are looking forward receiving the completed sake next year.

T.F