While the western world has their crop circles, the rice paddies of Japan are graced with elaborate murals quite apparently made with human hands.  These Japanese Rice Murals are a part of a Japanese tradition in two farming towns, Inakadate and Yonezawa, Japan.  The paddy art in Inakadate, for example, spans 15,000 square meters and can only be seen from the air or atop a tower in the local castle.  This art has been celebrated in Japan, capturing the curiosity of the local spirit and making their labor — the raising of rice — an art in and of itself.  [more at telegraph.co.uk] View in gallery

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