Tuesday, November 25, 2025
- 1 Shinryu Elementary School 5th Grade "Rice Farming Experience and Harvest Festival" Making Rice Balls and Miso Soup
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Shinryu Elementary School 5th Grade "Rice Farming Experience and Harvest Festival" Making Rice Balls and Miso Soup
On Friday, November 21st, six fifth graders at Hokuryu Town Shinryu Elementary School participated in a home economics class as part of their comprehensive studies, where they made rice balls and miso soup.
The brilliance of a newcomer, the fruit of six months of sweat and tears
The rice for the rice balls is newly harvested rice that has been cultivated since May under the enthusiastic guidance of local farmer Akimitsu Takada, and has undergone practical training in rice planting, harvesting, threshing, and other processes.
The seedlings that were planted in the mud have turned into golden ears of rice, and now before our eyes we have pure white rice. This is the moment when we feel the "baton of life" on our skin.
Simmered miso soup made with the blessings of the earth
The students cooked the new year's rice and made two types of rice balls (tuna mayonnaise and seaweed flakes). The miso soup contained daikon radish, onion, nameko mushrooms, and tofu.
Making miso soup
The participants were divided into two groups and had two types of miso soup: "daikon radish and onion" and "mushroom, tofu and wakame seaweed."
"Is the radish soft?" "Is this the amount of miso?"
As students chat with their classmates, a gentle aroma spreads throughout the classroom along with the warm steam.
Making rice balls with love, each with their own unique style
Making rice balls
Place freshly cooked rice on a piece of plastic wrap, add a generous amount of tuna mayonnaise in the middle, and wrap tightly with both hands.
While taking hygiene into consideration, the heat of the rice you feel through your palms is truly the "temperature of life."
The most popular is "Tuna Mayo," followed by "Nori Tama," "Sukiyaki," "Tarako," and other colorful furikake toppings. The children's eyes were filled with seriousness as they chose.
Round, triangular, large, small, and all sorts of shapes and sizes make for a unique rice ball!
Each rice ball is a one-of-a-kind masterpiece.
Smiling faces of "It's delicious!" fill the classroom
Thank you for everything!
Everyone takes a rice ball, pours themselves some miso soup, and says, "Itadakimasu!"
It will bring a delicious smile to your face!
"I love rice balls!"
"delicious!!!".
The exceptional taste can only be achieved by growing and cooking the produce ourselves. It is a taste that gives us a sense of accomplishment and gratitude that surpasses any high-end cuisine.
Thank you for the meal! With gratitude for the precious life we have been given!
Impressions and presentations
The students then moved from the home economics room to the classroom, where two students gave their impressions and presentations on behalf of the class.
The hard work of growing rice, the importance of food, and the joy of working together - what the children learned through this experience will no doubt have left a deep impression on their hearts.
"When I was planting rice, I realized that people in the past didn't have machines and had to do it by hand, which made them hurt their backs.
What I realized while harvesting rice was that the first time I did it, I wasn't used to it and I used too much force, which made me tired. But once I got used to it, I was able to do it quickly.
"At the end of the threshing process, I realized that although I had thought I would thresh one bundle at a time, I had to thresh each bundle in two. I learned that threshing a whole bundle at once can clog the machine."
"Next we made scarecrows. We stuffed newspapers into plastic bags. They were hard to make. Scarecrows are placed to keep birds away.
I learned that people in the past planted rice by hand, even though it was hard work. I also learned that after harvesting the rice, it is left to dry for a while. After threshing, it is transported to a warehouse with many machines."
Greetings from Akimitsu Takada
"Thank you all for your hard work making rice balls today. We would appreciate it if you could help your mothers at home. Thank you very much."
The students listened intently to what their instructor, Mr. Takada, had to say.
After this, on November 26th, rice balls made with new rice cooked at the restaurant Himawari will be distributed to all students at mealtime, and everyone will enjoy them together.
The hard work of the fifth graders will lead to "delicious smiles" throughout the school.
We would like to express our gratitude to Mr. Takada for his guidance, and to the delicious rice, and we would like to express our boundless love, gratitude, and prayers to the students of Shinryu Elementary School, who learned the greatness of food through their rice farming experience.
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