• An Onakage farmer plants his 2003 rice crop with a motorized planter (2003.06.07).
  • Still, it's hard physical labor. He has to push and muscle the planter through the paddy.
  • The soft, thick mud sucks at his feet, making it hard to lift them out of the muck.
  • The farmer is SUZUKI Seiichi (鈴木清一(70)) of Onakage, a former local community leader.
  • He was "jimoto kaichou" (地元会長) till March 1999, so he knows SWJC leaders very well
  • The first name he mentioned was that of Mr. Kinoshita (木野下さん) of the SWJC office.
  • When he was younger, he says he could plant two paddies before breakfast. A piece of cake!
  • But not anymore, now that he's 70. Age has caught up with him.
  • That's the J-Phone transmission tower in the background, the one near the SWJC gym.
  • Passing by this area, you can often hear the raspy chirping of a bird.
  • The raspy chirping is that of the reed warbler (葦切り/yoshikiri).
  • "Gyo-gyo-shi, gyo-gyo-shi, ke-ke-suke-suke-sukai-kai-shi," it chirps from these rushes
  • Mr. Suzuki's rice paddy is planted and ready for the growing season.
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