Crop Art
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Issue Date
2010-09-08Author
Hacker, Randi
Publisher
Center for East Asian Studies, University of Kansas
Type
Recording, oral
Is part of series
Postcards from Asia;0202
Published Version
https://audioboom.com/posts/879277-0202-crop-artMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Broadcast Transcript: Here in Japan, when the economy comes a cropper, the Japanese do crop art. Or at least in Inakadate, a small rural community up north, they do. Owing Tokyo a whopping 106 million bucks for a Neolithic theme park that went belly up, the Inakadate-ans were searching for ways to attract tourists and their money. Inakadate has been a rice growing region for more than 2,000 years so it isn't surprising that rice paddies offered them a solution: paddy art. By planting different colored varieties of rice, the rice paddies have become living canvases with different pictures planted every year. Last year, 170,000 tourists viewed the pictures from atop the village hall but ultimately left without buying much. Which proves that if you plant it, they will come but they won't necessarily spend enough money to get you out of your bubble economy debt. #ceas #hacker #japan
Description
This is one of hundreds of 60-second radio spots created by the Center for East Asian Studies (CEAS) for Kansas Public Radio (KPR). The purpose of this outreach program is to introduce the people of Kansas to the culture and current issues of East Asia.
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