12 AMAM.OBERLIN.EDU RICE HARVESTING During the growing season for rice, the flooded fields created a mini-ecosystem as creatures adapted to these temporary wetlands. Fish entered with the irrigation water, frogs laid eggs that stuck to growing rice stalks, snails and mosquito larvae grew, and all of these attracted ducks, herons, and egrets. At harvest time, the community came together again to perform this labor-intensive task. Farmers used sickles to cut rice stalks near the bottom to ensure a good length for the straw left after the rice grains were removed. Next, the stalks were threshed to remove the grains, either by beating themwith flails or stripping themby hand. The grains were then hulled in a mill, removing the outer hull. Finally, the hulls were separated from the grains by winnowing. For farmers, self-sufficient and able to live on the food they produced, the rice harvest was a central part of their livelihood. Half of the yield was used for taxes and/or rent. For the other half, part was eaten, part was saved as seed, and part was sold or exchanged. Whole grain rice, today known as brown rice, was mixed with other grains to serve as a staple of the rural diet. Polished rice, or white rice, preferred for its taste and easier to preserve and ship, was in demand in the cities. However, it was also more expensive, and less nutritious, leading to widespread vitamin-B deficiency in urban populations. Utagawa Kuniyoshi 歌川国芳 (Japanese, 1797–1861) Emperor Tenji, no. 1 fromthe series TheOneHundredPoets, OnePoemEach, early 1840s Color woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper MaryA. AinsworthBequest, 1950.527 The most famous anthology of Japanese poetry is the Hyakunin Isshu 百人一首, or “One Hundred Poets, One PoemEach,” compiled in the early 13th century. In the very first poem, illustrated in this print and translated above, Emperor Tenji 天智 (626–672) recalls a time he took shelter from the rain in a simple hut near a field during harvest time. The poem is often interpreted as an expression of his sympathy for the farmers’ labor; the moisture he refers to may be from his own tears. In the autumn fields the hut, the temporary hut its thatch is rough; and so the sleeves of my robe are dampened night by night with dew. —Translation by Joshua S. Mostow, Pictures of the Heart: The Hyakunin Isshu inWord and Image (2023)
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