VERY dry: drought?

 

Since this spring we’re watching the price of rice souring. You see? Before, Japanese paid taxes by rice. Commoners did not have enough money and time to enjoy tempuras, stewed veggies, etc, and so made do only with steamed rice for daily meal. Harvesting new rice was fundamentally important for Japanese psyche. Expensive rice has been serious political issues always. Several political powers collapsed because of expensive rice. Upper House election last month had big issues about rice. We’re serious for rice. Simple economics says when a price of good is going up it is a sign of scarcity. Last autumn, the government said we had plenty of rice. This summer, the doubt for statistics for tonnage of rice harvest came everybody’s mind. Was the government incorrect?

Wow. Expensive for every meal use …

This is what the Government released
 from their emergency warehouse.
 They were harvested some 4 years ago,
and have this price tag now.
 Have you noticed people are purchasing it,
according to the stockpile
 compared with the above photo?

One of the senior members of Niiharu Lovers Association was born in a Rice Bowl place and received regular gift of rice from her sister who married a rice farmer in her hometown. She was thankful she did not have to visit supermarket for rice since she moved into Yokohama decades ago. Alas no more. She said, “My sister said everybody visited her field for rice so often. Her business monetized all the stock. They now have enough rice only for her family. She does not have rice for me. I visited the supermarket, and astonished with their price tag!” Even in Yokohama, landlords of (tiny) fallow lands have returned planting rice to harvest any this fall. We had a sort of “hope” when new harvest season comes this month, we will have some breathing space for our meal …

The rice paddies here was a fallow land until recently.

Then, we’re having extremely harsh summer with very short monsoon season. We are hearing the news from Rice Bowl area their rice paddies are drying up. I recalled last winter people for the townhall of Hadano City was worried about small snow caps in Tanzawa Mountains and low water levels for rivers running there. Even the ground for my Mom’s garden is drying. We’re busy sprinkling ... Small rivers in Yokohama have very thin streams now, and its banks are covered by weeds for dry land. The vegetation will soon collapse under the scorching sun if no enough rain falls. Typhoons do not give enough … Global warming?

The small stream is almost swallowed
by weeds …

Do you think this point received
enough rainwater from a typhoon
 some 3 hours ago?

If you find environmental issues in Kanagawa Prefecture, please make a contact with 

Kanagawa Natural Environment Conservation Center 神奈川県自然環境保全センター

657 Nanasawa, Atsugi City, 243-0121
〒243－0121　厚木市七沢657

Phone: 046-248-0323

You can send an enquiry to them by clicking the bottom line of their homepage at http://www.pref.kanagawa.jp/div/1644/