title: Hokuriku Tales vol.3

Summary

A book of five stories about Fukui, Ishikawa and Toyama with useful data vol.3

By the time the rainyseason ends, the treesare loaded with fruitIn the 43 th year of Showa (1968), the plum grove of Kenrokuen was created as a living collection ofrenowned plum varieties in Japan in commemoration of the Meiji Restoration centennial. Citizens ofKanazawa truly feel the arrival of spring when they start blossoming one after another.The plum-shape emblem can alsobe seen on the shimmon (shrinegate) of Oyama Shrine (an importantcultural property of Japan) whereMaeda Toshiiye is enshrined.The astragalus plant is tilled intothe soil as green manureRice growing which is friendly topeople and the environmentAs a result of a power struggle he was demoted to head the far-away outpostof Dazaifu. He wrote a waka poem when he left his home in Kyoto which may beroughly translated as:“When the east wind blows / let it send your fragrance /oh plum blossoms. / Although your master is gone / do not forget the spring.”After he left home for Dazaifu, as the legend goes, the plum tree to whichMichizane spoke these words wanted to be with him again and flew all the wayto Dazaifu overnight.The plum grove of Kenrokuen was created as a collection of famous plumvarieties in Japan with the cooperation of Kitano Tenmangu Shrine, Dazaifu,Yushima Tenjin Shrine and Mito Kairakuen Garden in commemoration of theMeiji Restoration centennial. When the red and white blossoms of 200 plum treesof shirakaga, maya-kobai and some 20 other varieties come out in Kenrokuen, thelong-awaited spring is here. Subsequently, the plum fruits are harvested,processed as umeboshi (pickled plum) and donated to welfare facilities in theprefecture. Plums are beautiful to watch and good to eat.A countryside with flowers that are friendly to peopleand the environmentThe town of Eiheiji, Fukui Prefecture is famous for its high quality rice.Farmers there are promoting“Astragalus Rice”that is grown with the help ofthe astragalus plant.Astragalus farming is a technique that used to be widely practiced in Japan.The seeds are sown over the post-harvest rice paddy in autumn. When theflowers come out in spring, the entire plant is tilled into the soil as green manure.This practice had been abandoned in the face of the more care-free use ofchemical fertilizers.There were good reasons to grow astragalus on the paddy during winter time.The plant catches nitrogen in the atmosphere and stores it in the root. It suppliesthe necessary nutrients when rice growing starts in late spring. Consumption ofchemical fertilizers can be decreased by the astragalus farming technique.Rediscovering the advantage of astragalus farming as friendly to people and the16 Hokuriku Tales vol.3