This year's selection of rice paddy art has begun to crop up in fields across Japan.



Rice paddy art in Inakadate (Aomori prefecture) [photo]

Two historical figures -- the legendary warrior-monk Benkei (left) and the warrior Ushiwakamaru, a.k.a. Minamoto no Yoshitsune (right) -- have emerged in a pair of fields in the Aomori prefecture town of Inakadate. For nearly 20 years, the town has prided itself as home to Japan's finest rice crop art, which is created by carefully arranging different colors of rice plants in the field.



Benkei (left) and Ushiwakamaru (right) [photo]



Benkei [photo]



Ushiwakamaru [photo]



Ushiwakamaru in late June [photo]



View of Ushiwakamaru at ground level [photo]



Ushiwakamaru [photo]



Benkei [photo]



View of Benkei at ground level



+ Video of Inakadate rice paddy art (filmed in late June)

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Here are a few more works of rice paddy art from other parts of Japan.



Animals in Asahikawa (Hokkaido) [photo]



Animals in Asahikawa (Hokkaido) [photo]



Samurai Keiji Maeda in Yonezawa (Yamagata prefecture) [photo]



View from top of Keiji Maeda's head [photo]



Princess Okaiko, a local folklore figure, in the town of Shirataka (Yamagata prefecture) [photo]



Rice paddy art at Denpark in Anjo (Aichi prefecture) [via]



Rice paddy art at Sakakibara onsen (Mie prefecture) [photo]



Ducks near Fukushimagata Lagoon Water Park (Niigata prefecture) [via]



Ground level view of ducks near Fukushimagata Lagoon Water Park (Niigata prefecture) [photo]



Ducks near Fukushimagata Lagoon Water Park (Niigata prefecture) [via]



Buddhist sword dancer and Anpanman in the Mizusawa area (Iwate prefecture) [photo]



Anpanman in the Mizusawa area (Iwate prefecture) [photo]

More:

- Rice paddy art, 2009

- Time-lapse video of rice paddy art, 2008

- Rice paddy art harvest, 2007

- Rice paddy art, 2007