Sado - Rice Fields in Iwakubi

The next morning, we gather at the entrance gate at 08:00 to drive to the rice terraces. For me, it was not a problem to get up so early because I still couldn't really sleep due to jet lag. There are two more participants in the temple with me, both speak German and are from Germany and Switzerland. The drive takes about an hour, and we meet the people from the company who take care of some of the rice fields at the bottom of the mountain. There is also a reporter with a camera crew from the television who wants to document the day.

After a short introduction, we drive up the mountain and enjoy the view. Unfortunately, due to the weather, we can't see very far and the sea disappears in the fog, but still, it's a really amazing sight. In Sado, this place used to be a major tourist attraction, but today, besides the rice farmers and us, there is no one there. Only a few people come here for vacation nowadays.

We get back in the car and head to the rice field that we will plant today. Although everyone is wearing rubber boots and there are also boots for us, the mud is too deep and they would fill up. So we have to go barefoot. The other volunteers say it's better this way, but I have my doubts.
We are explained how to plant the small rice seedlings in the ground, and in the meantime, one of the volunteers rolls a hexagonal grid roller over the field, creating a pattern on the ground. The rice plants are planted at the intersections of the grid pattern. Three plants and stick them in the mud up to the first knuckle of the finger.
I'm standing at the edge, so I have to go in first. Great.
I have a little trouble with balance at first because you can't see the ground, but the mud stabilizes you quite well.
At first, it's very cold, but after a few minutes, you don't feel anything anymore.
For about an hour, we plant the small sprouts in the ground and the camera crew keeps asking us what we're thinking. After we finish with the field, we wash our hands and feet in the water channel next to the field.
For lunch, we go back to the viewpoint, and then the work for the day is already finished.
Since we have a lot of time left, we stop by a few local shops, like a donut shop run by an older man and a chocolate shop with homemade chocolate made with cocoa from different countries. There, we have a hot chocolate and head back to the Koninji Temple.