Shiroyone Senmaida Rice Terraces

And now for something different. If I were to say "rice paddy" it would conjure up a flat piece of well watered soil with solid green vegetation blowing in the wind. You've seen heaps of rice paddies in the last week of this BLOG.

Well how about the pictures below of the Shiroyone Senmaida rice terraces? They occupy a steep hillside plunging into the Sea of Japan on the Noto Peninsula. And instead of being largish and square, they're wavy and small!

Well, it seems that a local collective decided to sculpture these paddies in the landscape and they've constructed a major tourist attraction, with heaps of people around the day we visited. Cure aren't they?

And the next photo shows what must be the world's smallest paddy field, barely big enough to fit in one Irishman (excuse the pun).

And, Emily, doesn't this last picture taken from the rice paddies remind you of the scenery along Highway 1?

AS