Taue!
English Version:
Last week, I had the pleasure of helping my girlfriend's parents plant their rice fields. It might go without saying, but it was my first time. It was a very exciting experience and I think it helped me understand a little more of what goes into making the rice we eat (as the rice my girlfriend and I are eating was a gift from her parents).
It was like the real deal. I had the big hat (unfortunately not the token rice hat, which I've only seen actual rice farmers in Japan wear a handful of times). I also had the gloves, the scarf, a
nd the boots (that say alligator on them)-- which I actually bought for the snow. The jumpsuit that I am wearing was a borrowed item. I jokingly called it a "one-piece" which is technically correct from an English standpoint, but in Japanese is what you call a one-piece dress. I was relieved by the fact that my girlfriend immediately understood what I was talking about while her mom was staring at me wide-eyed wondering what the hell I really meant. Fortunately, what I really meant was that snazzy looking jump-suit. It was hot, but much cooler than I expected.
nd the boots (that say alligator on them)-- which I actually bought for the snow. The jumpsuit that I am wearing was a borrowed item. I jokingly called it a "one-piece" which is technically correct from an English standpoint, but in Japanese is what you call a one-piece dress. I was relieved by the fact that my girlfriend immediately understood what I was talking about while her mom was staring at me wide-eyed wondering what the hell I really meant. Fortunately, what I really meant was that snazzy looking jump-suit. It was hot, but much cooler than I expected.Rice planting is actually quite a process. You have to actually plant and grow the rice into what looks like pallets of grass that you would plant to me, a Californian. That process goe
s on long before you actually put it in the ground. The ground is also a big part in the process. You have to get the field ready for rice planting. This entails putting new water in and draining old water out. This part of the process seemed to be performed multiple times a day. The ground then becomes a little pond-like deal in which reside leeches, worms, other insects, and more things I don't want to imagine. I'm not sure how the rice field was set up prior to that, however. Supposedly one of the fields that we planted was used for mugi last year, which is like wheat. The land has to be fairly flat, smooth, and without weeds or rocks.
s on long before you actually put it in the ground. The ground is also a big part in the process. You have to get the field ready for rice planting. This entails putting new water in and draining old water out. This part of the process seemed to be performed multiple times a day. The ground then becomes a little pond-like deal in which reside leeches, worms, other insects, and more things I don't want to imagine. I'm not sure how the rice field was set up prior to that, however. Supposedly one of the fields that we planted was used for mugi last year, which is like wheat. The land has to be fairly flat, smooth, and without weeds or rocks.The next part of the process is moving the rice pallet things to be easily accessed nearby the fields. This
requires loading the pallets into a truck, called a K-truck (or K-tora for short). The truck had a special rack for carrying rice pallets installed. I was told it could hold up to 50 pallets at a time. That's quite a load! I've seen a lot of K-toras and supposedly if you are a farmer, then they are a must. They are certainly small, and they are certainly good at carrying things, so why not. The small dirt roadways between fields are most easily accessed by them so it makes a lot of sense. They are also fuel efficient, or said to be so by their yellow license
plates, which implies a smaller-than-normal engine. Another quality of K-toras, which I always just assumed anyways, is that they are manual transmission. I have driven manual before-- maybe twice, for about 10 minutes each time. Luckily, I got to hone in on my skills and work out all the kinks by doing a crash course in driving a manual car in Japan (which means you shift with your left hand!). I can proudly say I didn't stall it once (but boy did I come close).
requires loading the pallets into a truck, called a K-truck (or K-tora for short). The truck had a special rack for carrying rice pallets installed. I was told it could hold up to 50 pallets at a time. That's quite a load! I've seen a lot of K-toras and supposedly if you are a farmer, then they are a must. They are certainly small, and they are certainly good at carrying things, so why not. The small dirt roadways between fields are most easily accessed by them so it makes a lot of sense. They are also fuel efficient, or said to be so by their yellow license
plates, which implies a smaller-than-normal engine. Another quality of K-toras, which I always just assumed anyways, is that they are manual transmission. I have driven manual before-- maybe twice, for about 10 minutes each time. Luckily, I got to hone in on my skills and work out all the kinks by doing a crash course in driving a manual car in Japan (which means you shift with your left hand!). I can proudly say I didn't stall it once (but boy did I come close). As if struggling to drive one vehicle in a single day isn't hard enough, I got to learn how to drive two new vehicles that day. I must say, it is like an honor to be able to drive what I drove. I got to drive the cuvetted rice planting tractor, which is called a taueki. It was a BEAST. It w
as so different from anything I've ever done. It was also mysteriously a complete blast. I'm just glad I didn't crash and destroy it, as I can only imagine how much dough one of those things costs. It was actually a little bit more simpler than I thought it would be. I asked my girlfriend if she'd ever driven it before, and she basically said no way. I asked her if she ever wanted to, to which she replied 'not really' with the addition of something along the lines of: 'I'm a girl anyways and I don't think girls really drive those things'. Her mom said basically the same thing. I can say I secretly wanted to drive one and got the pleasure to take one off the road. The thing had all the levers and pedals you would ever want-- it's like a kindergartner's dream. I loved it nonetheless, however.
You load the truck with rice and it plants it for you. You've just gotta make sure there is fertilizer in there and make sure your rice pallets down run out. This entails 20kg bags of fertilizer special to my city and taking the rice out of the pallets by transfering it to the truck with white trays. You slide it on the trays from the pallets and off the trays onto the machine. It was quite an experience. The great weather was certainly the cherry on the top!
Exclaimer: The Japanese version is in no way a translation as I'm not planning on explaining to Japanese people how they plant their rice.
日本語バージョン：
この間、彼女のご両親に田植えを手伝わせて頂きました。ものすごくいい天気でしたし、すてきな経験になりました。俺外人ってこんな田舎におるだけでかなり目立つじゃないかなと思っとるくせに、周りにおられた近所の日本人に何を思われたか想像も出来んことです。
しかし、コス
チューム結構やっとたので分かれたんかな？写真を見ると、肌色とデカ鼻でしか分かられないでしょうか？あと、身長もちょっとデカイけどたいしたもんじゃないと思っとります。あれツナギは借り物でしたが、好きでした。思ったより、全然あつくはなかったです。
冗談で言ったけど、彼女に「あれワンピースどこけ？」と聞いたら彼女も完璧に分かったもんでした。残念ながらお母さんの方からちょっと「はっ。。。」って感じな顔されちゃった。
チューム結構やっとたので分かれたんかな？写真を見ると、肌色とデカ鼻でしか分かられないでしょうか？あと、身長もちょっとデカイけどたいしたもんじゃないと思っとります。あれツナギは借り物でしたが、好きでした。思ったより、全然あつくはなかったです。
冗談で言ったけど、彼女に「あれワンピースどこけ？」と聞いたら彼女も完璧に分かったもんでした。残念ながらお母さんの方からちょっと「はっ。。。」って感じな顔されちゃった。 米の準備をするのに、Kトラを運転しました。残念ながら、俺はちょっとマニュアルの初めてぐらいなやつです！それは十分楽しかったけど、それより田植え機を運転させて頂くことは一番ヤバかったです。運転するのはものすごく不安でしたが、アドバイスとやり方を言って頂き、なんとなく出来ました。
来年でも出来ることかな？？？来年をお楽しみしっとるちゃ！
来年でも出来ることかな？？？来年をお楽しみしっとるちゃ！
[英語バージョンと日本語バージョンは翻訳ではありません]
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