TONDABAYASHI, Osaka Prefecture--A "miracle" rice crop grown from a handful of seeds that survived the devastating 2011 tsunami were harvested on Sept. 14, a sign of hope and recovery for the Tohoku region.
TONDABAYASHI, Osaka Prefecture--A "miracle" rice crop grown from a handful of seeds that survived the devastating 2011 tsunami were harvested on Sept. 14, a sign of hope and recovery for the Tohoku region.
With sickles in hand, about 40 fifth-graders from the local Kishi Elementary School were excitedly harvesting the grain dubbed "miracle rice of recovery."
"I hope this shows that Iwate can recover," said 11-year-old Ayaki Ishida. "It would be great if this rice spreads across Japan."
The rice was produced from seedlings from three stalks found growing on the property of a woman in Otsuchi, Iwate Prefecture, seven months after the Great East Japan Earthquake. The tsunami had swept away her house and everything else on her small patch of land, but the three plants somehow clung to life.
A handful of seeds from the rice stalks were grown and multiplied by Tono Magokoro Net or Tono City Disaster Relief Network, a nonprofit organization in Tono, Iwate Prefecture.
In February, the residents of Tondabayashi, who have been supporting relief efforts in Otsuchi, received a kilogram of rice seedlings from Tono Magokoro Net and planted them in a 300-square-meter paddy.
The Hitomebore-brand rice was ready for harvest a month earlier than the locally grown Hinohikari strain because it is from a strain that is adapted to colder regions of Japan.
Although sparrows were attracted to the rapidly growing grain, local farmers set up protective nets and scared off birds with firecrackers.
"I may have lost everything I owned, but I was able to connect with people I never knew," said Ryoichi Usuzawa, the 66-year-old chairman of Tono Magokoro Net.
Usuzawa's house was also washed away in the tsunami, and he currently lives in temporary housing.
"We're thankful that the people here empathized with us," he said.
About 150 kilograms of the miracle rice was collected in the harvest, of which 50 kg will be used to spread the rice across the nation by distributing it to elementary schools for sowing next year. The rest will be served in autumn festivals.