The Northeast districts of Japan are famous for producing high quality rice. In 2007, Miyagi Prefecture was placed 6th in Japan for its rice crop (after Niigata, Hokkaido, Akita, Fukushima and Ibaraki).

Tome City, which is located in the northern part of Miyagi, has vast and fertile rice fields, and is one of the best regions for producing delicious and high quality rice.

In this blog, reporters who live in Tome City, will dispatch reports on the topic of produging high quality rice, from the time of rice-planting to the harvest.

Tome City also has vast natural resources, such as clean and non-polluted air and water.

There are also brooks, where you can enjoy watching fireflies in summer. Thanks to the natural environment, people in Tome City are able to produce delicious rice.

Reporters will also send updates about the daily lives of people in this area, as well as traditional local events and festivals.

Though the area owned by each local farmer is not very large, they always try to do their best to co-operate and produce safe, high quality and delicious rice. It is the local farmers' philosophy to grow rice with the greatest possible care. They believe that rice produced in Tome City is the best in Japan.

We hope you will find something useful in the reports from Tome City.

Reporters' Profile
Mr. Kan-ichi Onodera (left in the picture), lives in Towa, Tome City. He has been a city council member since 2005, and at the same time he owns rice fields. He has been engaged in international exchange programs between Vernon, Canada, Tome City's sister city. He contributed to securing the sister city agreement between Vernon and Tome.

He has also been engaged in volunteer work, and many local events. He used to work at a community education section at Towa Town Hall. He has traveled abroad many times, and he understands how important it is to have mutual understandings between foreign people and Japanese people.

Mr. Seikoh Sasaki (right in the picture), is a retired teacher. He used to teach English at senior high schools in Iwate and Miyagi Prefecture. After his retirement, he has been working as an international exchange consultant at Tome City Hall.

He was once invited to Carroll Senior High School in Texas, U.S.A as an exchange teacher. He has traveled abroad many times, and he also thinks it is necessary to have mutual understandings between foreign people and Japanese people for the peace of the world. He also works as a volunteer tour guide in Tome City.