Of Rice and Men

   A few months ago, I visited Ukiha Machi in the southern part of Fukuoka Prefecture to see the terraced rice paddies—known as tanada, (棚田) or dandan batake (段々畑)—and the cluster amaryllis (higan bana 彼岸花).

   While there I was struck once again by the size of the rice fields: some were as small as a twin-sized mattress, many no larger than a lane in your local public swimming pool. Some were so small I couldn’t help wondering how much rice even the most determined farmer could grow on such a limited space.

   And so, curiosity had me going around pestering people to find out just how much rice could be harvested from a field that measured only 1 tsubo.[1] Would there be enough rice for, say, an o-nigiri (rice ball)?

   (I asked some of my college students this same question and got answers that varied from 50 rice balls to 500.)

   Well, I eventually got around to asking a relative of mine, who like many rural Japanese is a weekend farmer, and was kindly provided with the answer.

   Rice fields in Japan are measured in tan, which are equivalent to 992m². Tan atari (反当たり), or tantō (反当), then refers to how much can be harvested from a field. A typical rice field will produce a tan atari of 8 to 9 tawara[2], or 480 to 540 kilograms of rice. Since 1 tan is equal to 300 tsubo, one tsubo would provide 1.6-1.8 kilos of rice. Mind you, this is would be genmai, or unpolished, brown rice. Once polished you would end up with about one shō (一升) of rice, or 1.5 kilograms. Thus, with a-one tsubo rice-paddy you could expect to harvest about one shō of uncooked rice.

   1 gō[3], or about 150 grams, of uncooked rice is enough rice to make about two o-nigiri once cooked.

   So, that single tsubo patch of planted rice would yield about 20 rice balls. A paddy the size of one tatami mat would give you enough rice for ten rice balls. 

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[1] The tsubo (坪) is a standard unit of area still used today in Japan to measure land and floor space. One tsubo is equal in size to two tatami mats side by side or 3.31m² (1.82m x 1.82m).

[2] A tawara (俵) is a straw bag for holding rice. Similar to bushels in the U.S., the tawara is sometimes used to measure capacity.

[3] A gō (合) is another unit used in measuring volume. One gô of uncooked rice contains about 6700 grains of rice.

Ukiha

   Ukiha is a small farming town (now designated a cityーうきは市ーthanks to its merger with neighboring Yoshii Machi) in the southern part of Fukuoka Prefecture. While the center of the town itself has a collection of traditional houses and buildings that it is trying to promote as a tourist destination, I'm afraid I haven't been there personally. (You'll have to take the city's HP's word that it's worth visiting.) I have, however, on a number of occasions been into the mountains to an area called Ukiha Machi Shinkawa (浮羽町新川) to see the terraced rice paddies--known as tanada (棚田) or dandan batake (段々畑)--and the higan bana (彼岸花, lycoris radiata or cluster amaryllis) which bloom, appropriately, around o-higan, that is, during the equinoctal week in autumn.

   Although there is a bus that dawdles its way up the winding mountain road, the best way to get there is by car. You take route 210 to route 105 and follow it all the way up, past the dam, and on up into the mountains until you start seeing the terraced rice paddies. Keep going on up as far as you can, then get out and hike up the rest of the way. Trust me, it's worth the trip.

   The best time to go is in early September, just before the rice is harvested or shortly after the rice harvesting has begun as the contrast between fields of rice that have already been cleared and those waiting to be is quite beautiful.

   Along the borders of the rice fields you'll find a curious looking flower called the higan bana. The generally come in two colors: red and white. According to Mr. Wiki:

  "The bulbs of Lycoris radiata are very poisonous. These are mostly used in Japan, and they are used to surround their paddies and houses to keep the pest and mice away. That is why most of them grow close to rivers now. In Japan the Red Spider Lily signals the arrival of fall. Many Buddhist will use it to celebrate the arrival of fall with a ceremony at the tomb of one of their ancestors. They plant them on graves because it shows a tribute to the dead. People believe that since the Red Spider Lily is mostly associated with death that one should never give a bouquet of these flowers."