Sado - Ninja plants in the rice field

Today we drive back to the center of Sado by car. There we meet a rice farmer and the community supporter of the region. We borrow some knee-high field work rubber boots and then continue to a hut on a hill. There are some rice fields there that are only being planted to serve as a food source for Toki and other animals. The little cedar forest is really beautiful and everything reminds a bit of a witch's house from a fairy tale. In the morning we collect various wild plants that we eat for lunch together with our brought along items. There are some herbs and a few small onions that all taste a bit different. One of the onions has a tomato-like flavor, almost like a tomato salad with lots of onions. After lunch, our rubber boots finally come into play. One of the rice fields is not planted, but filled with water and left as a pond so that more animals can live there. However, the pond is overgrown with a water plant whose seeds have pointed ends with barbs, and to prevent it from becoming overgrown, we remove them by hand. We try to catch as many seeds as possible because even if you pull out the plant with the root and everything, the individual seed can still grow a new plant. The rice farmer explains to us that the seeds of the plant were used by ninjas in the past to stop pursuers. The seeds were simply thrown on the ground and then worked like caltrops because most people wore straw sandals. For an hour, we collect the plants from the pond, and since the roots and twigs are very robust and the ground is soft and muddy, they can be pulled out relatively easily. It is also much easier to maintain balance with the rubber boots than barefoot, but you often get stuck in the deep mud and have to exert a lot of strength to free your feet. When the pond is half clean again, we collect a few more wild plants for the next few days' meals and then make our way back.