Life in Inakadate・田舎館での暮らし

5月の下旬に植えた田んぼアートがきれいに伸びてきています。植えてから1ヶ月半ぐらいは稲が小さくて、田んぼにひいている水がかなり見えて「まだこれからだ」という感じでしたが、今になったら、それぞれの稲が高く伸びて、見ごろになってきています。。
　The Rice Paddy Art fields that we planted in late May have come in beautifully. For about the first month after we planted, the plants were small and rather than the pattern in the rice, visitors saw more of the water in the fields. You could see that it was coming, but that it still needed time. Now however, all of the plants have grown out and the field is at its peak viewing time.

　そして、見に来る人が数多く来ています。最近、役場の北口から入ろうとすれば、かなり混んでいる時が多いです。そしてもちろんのことですが、皆が田んぼアートの隣に建っている天守閣まで登って行けば、皆の「あっ、すばらしい」などの声をいっぱい聞きます。
　So of course, many people are coming to see it. Recently when you enter through the north entrance of the village hall you must push through the crowd of people. And of course, when all of those people climb up to the keep of the castle (which stands next to the Rice Paddy Art) and look down, we can almost certainly hear cries of "Wow, that's great".

　今年は4色目の赤となる稲を植えましたが、隣の写真で見えるように、それがまだ見えてきていません。穂だけが赤くなるので、その穂がまだフルに咲いていないという意味でしょう。その赤くなることを皆楽しみにしています。
　This year we introduced a fourth, red color of rice, but as you can see in the photo here, you can't see that red color yet. It is said that only the husks surrounding each individual grain will turn red. I guess we will have to wait a little longer for that red color to appear.