Today, and yesterday and the day before were glorious autumn days; midday was warm, clear and the humidity was very low while the nights have begun to cool down to very pleasant temperatures. It is the perfect weather for living. And the perfect weather for eating all of that wonderful rice that everyone has been harvesting.

It is over. The fields are all cut, the farmers are tilling the soil once more to turn under the shoots that have begun to sprout up again. The land is once again going full circle; turning back to the beautiful black that we first saw back in April and May when the spring weeds were first turned under. The clouds are full-bodied, imagination-enhancing tools from God that fill the blue sky with a childs every fantasy. I love October for exactly these reasons. There is no better season to be here in Japan (here in Hokuriku) than the fall month of October.

I was a little bit late in bringing you out to see the final turn of the rice cycle and I apologize. It was really the beginning of the month when most of the rice had been cut, with just a few fields left over. These late ones will most likely be used to make "mochi rice" or a stick kind of rice that is generally used for making rice cakes and other rice products.

You can see here, the green fields which look like they are just in the beginning stages of growth. And in fact you wouldn't be far off to think that because these fields were cut early and have begun to sprout again. What are all those bags you may wonder. Well, they lined roads in the area we were travelling around for as far as the eye could discert. Upon closer inspection they seemed to be the ground up hulls from the rice that was cleaned. I have yet to determine the use of these bags, but judging by their location I would probably hazard a guess that they will be spread over the fields as a fertilizer for enriching the soil in the fields that will be used over again for next year's crop. If I were a few years younger and a tad wickeder I would love to break open a bunch of those bags, pour them into a huge pile and jump right in!

We have, in fact come to the end of the 1998 Rice Cycle. The farmers will clean up their fields for a little while longer and then let them sit until spring of next year. The snow will add moisture to the soil and the nutrients will be replenished, making the land ready for another rice cycle. I hope that you enjoyed your visit out to the Hokuriku area of Japan and that you found our Rice Cycle to be an educating and enlightening experience. Please feel free to come out for the 1999 Rice Cycle if you wish. I will be here, our dog will certainly be here running through the fields, jumping in the rivers, chasing mice through the stalks of rice and generally making a nuisance of himself and I am sure that all the people you met this year will be back at it again, next year.

I guess I should take you over to the train station so you can jump on the train heading back into town and be on your way home. I love this little station. There is nobody operating it and it is really old and decrepit but if you sit in it for a while you begin to feel right at home. It is especially nice in the winter because they run a little kerosene heater to keep the room warm while you are waiting for the train to run. They come every half hour, and are only one car operated by one engineer. A friend from Tokyo thought it was a bus when he first saw it. We laughed at that. Sadly, however, the train is not doing well; most people these days take their automobiles into the city and avoid the high-price of the train all together. The locals are trying to keep it alive because it really is a necessary service for those without their own mode of transportation and also it is part of the local culture. If the train goes, it usually means the village is dying as well. I ride it when I have the opportunity. It isn't the most comfortable thing, but it is warm in the winter and cool in the summer. And it certainly takes you through a most scenic 30 minutes back to Fukui City. Well, here it is. Thanks again for coming and I hope you enjoyed your stay. Take care.

This train had two crashes to date in 2001 alone. The drivers both died in both cases, a few passengers died, and many children were injured. It is felt  that these old trains are no longer safe and nobody wants to ride them therefore we believe that likely this train service will be discontinued. Pray for the souls that passed away due to the negligence of the train company.

Now I know what those bags of rice husks are all about. I knew I couldn't just leave you to think I wouldn't look into it. Well, tonight when I was out for a walk with Tug I saw a huge pile of the husks at the side of the field. And it being Autumn, and there being no deciduous trees nearby to gather leaves and jump into, I threw caution to the wind and in memory of my wild youth, threw myself into the fluffy pile of husks.

Then it hit me ...

Like a race car ...

On the Nevada Salt Flats...

Trying desperately to break the light barrier ...

This wasn't just your ordinary rice husks.

Nope.

It was rice husks blended heavily with chicken shit!

Now we know what was in those big bags of "rice hulls".

Yuck.