Thursday, July 11, 2024
In the field to the west of the Itaya Public Housing, the "sunflowers filled with prayers (wishes) for peace" are blooming beautifully again this year.
Sunflowers filled with prayers (wishes) for peace
These sunflowers have been lovingly and carefully grown by Ryoji Kikura (an honorary resident of Hokuryu Town).
In this field, the seeds are planted in three separate areas with different sowing times.
The baton is being passed on to the beautiful sunflowers blooming in the midsummer sun!!!
With boundless love, gratitude, and prayers for the graceful and powerful sunflowers that we can enjoy to our heart's content until autumn...
Ryoji Kikura grows sunflowers with love and care
A bee sucking delicious nectar from a sunflower!
The seeds are planted in three plots at different times.
Makomodake
The sunflowers blooming in the former Kikura family's fields, the corn growing well, and the bamboo shoots, now in their third year of cultivation, are also growing in a mysterious way.
This year marks the third year since Ryoji Kikura began cultivating Makomodake at the request of Noboru Shimizu, who lives in Chiba Prefecture.
Makomo is a sacred herb used in the Suzumidono Festival, a Makomo ritual held at Izumo Taisha Shrine every June.
With gratitude to the sacred Makomodake bamboo, inhabited by gods...
With great love, gratitude and prayers to the graceful sunflowers that pray for peace, the corn that embodies vitality and power, and the sacred and god-infused bamboo plant that dwells within, praying for good health and a bountiful harvest...
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◇ Interview and text: Ikuko Terauchi (Photography and editing assistance: Noboru Terauchi)
