{"id":201666,"date":"2024-06-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-17T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=201666"},"modified":"2024-06-17T07:23:23","modified_gmt":"2024-06-17T07:23:23","slug":"rice-planting-event-connects-camp-zama-residents-with-japanese-culture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=201666","title":{"rendered":"Rice-planting event connects Camp Zama residents with Japanese culture"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n <\/p>\n

<\/a>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>

\n
\n
\n Camp Zama community members join a muddy foot race in a rice paddy before a rice-planting event the Zama International Association hosted June 2 near the installation.
\n (Photo Credit: Noriko Kudo, U.S. Army Garrison Japan Public Affairs)<\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n VIEW ORIGINAL<\/a>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

ZAMA, Japan \u2013 A rice-planting event held near Camp Zama offered community members from the installation the chance to take part in a pastime that holds both cultural and culinary significance in Japan.<\/p>\n

Adults and children from the U.S. Army installation were among the nearly 100 participants from multiple countries who came to a small rice field June 2 for the event.<\/p>\n

The Zama International Association, a volunteer organization that promotes bilateral exchange activities in the city, hosted the rice-planting there for the ninth consecutive year.<\/p>\n

Following welcome remarks from the ZIA, the group was led to the field, a small expanse of soil saturated in water standing at about ankle level. Everyone was encouraged to step right in and get a feel for the thick, muddy area in which they would be working. Then, a ZIA volunteer led the group in a few foot races and even had parents trudge on all fours with their smaller children on their backs.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n \"Rice-planting
\n <\/a>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n
\n
\n Camp Zama community members and other participants work together to plant several rows of rice during a rice-planting event the Zama International Association hosted June 2 near the installation. <\/p>\n

(Photo Credit: Noriko Kudo, U.S. Army Garrison Japan Public Affairs)<\/span>\n <\/p>\n

<\/span>
\n VIEW ORIGINAL<\/a>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

The field\u2019s owner gave a tutorial on how to properly plant the rice sprouts in the mud, taking care to show the group how deep and how far apart they should be planted. The rice the group planted will be ready for harvest in the fall, the owner said.<\/p>\n

Hiroo Umezawa, vice president of ZIA, said participation in the rice-planting event has grown each year since it started. The event serves both as an opportunity for hands-on experience in growing Japan\u2019s staple food and as a way for Zama residents and non-Japanese community members to interact through a unique cultural activity, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was delighted to see both Japanese and foreigners enjoying playing in the mud and planting the rice together,\u201d Umezawa said.<\/p>\n

Japanese people have a culture of gratitude for living things and nature, and they express their appreciation for food by saying \u201cItadakimasu\u201d before eating. Umezawa explained that he wanted the participants to experience what is a significant part of Japan\u2019s food culture.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n \"Rice-planting
\n <\/a>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n
\n
\n Event participants work together to plant several rows of rice during a rice-planting event the Zama International Association hosted June 2 near the installation.
\n (Photo Credit: Noriko Kudo, U.S. Army Garrison Japan Public Affairs)<\/span>
\n <\/span>
\n VIEW ORIGINAL<\/a>
\n <\/span>
\n <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cI am glad that community members from Camp Zama annually participate in this rice-planting event,\u201d Umezawa said. \u201cWe plan to hold other exchange events in the future, so we hope they will join us so we can continue to deepen our friendship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sydney Steele Flores, 20, from Camp Zama, was a first-time participant in the event and said she had been wanting to take part since her family moved to Japan three years ago. Though she was tired after more than an hour of planting, Steele Flores said afterward that she was humbled by the experience and felt connected to the other participants.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a cool experience; it felt like I was [part of] the community,\u201d Steele Flores said. \u201cI love eating food and making food, so being able to be [part of] the process of making rice helped connect me to the other people.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the participants were finished and rinsed all the mud off themselves, ZIA members handed out to them \u201conigiri,\u201d rice balls seasoned with salt and served with pickled radish. The onigiri were made from rice harvested during last year\u2019s planting event, and the organizers encouraged the guests to return this fall to likewise see the results of their hard work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Camp Zama community members join a muddy foot race in a rice paddy before a rice-planting event the Zama International Association hosted June 2 near the installation. (Photo Credit: Noriko Kudo, U.S. Army Garrison Japan Public Affairs) VIEW ORIGINAL ZAMA, Japan \u2013 A rice-planting event held near Camp Zama offered community members from the installation […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":201668,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-201666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201666","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=201666"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201666\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":201672,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201666\/revisions\/201672"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/201668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=201666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=201666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=201666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}