The ship arrived at Uwajima port about 7 am, and we were surprised by quite an elaborate welcome reception at the port.  There were musicians, some dancers, two costumed beings, and some Samuari warriors who let the visitors engage in sword play.  By 9 am, we had divided into two groups.  One group visited the Doi Pearl Farm, had lunch in Uwajima’s Tensha-en garden, and then drove to Uchiko (one hour) for a guided walk in the historic village.  We joined the other group to learn about rice production, have lunch in a park setting at Karara restaurant, and then continue to Uchiko.

Uchiko is known for its great short-grain rice, koshihikari, which has been planted here for over 2,000 years.  The farmer, who has a very large rice plantation, was in the middle of their spring planting using a large tractor that automatically plants several rows of rice at one time (which he demonstrated).  He left part of the field open so that we could try our hand at planting rice in the old manual way.  Our arrival of 30 people seemed to be a big thing here because he invited a town councilman, the local English teacher, the farmer’s family, a girl who had lived in American as an exchange student, and all of his workers.  They were taking as many photos of us as we were taking photos of them.  Tom and others tried planting rice and had to roll up their pants and step barefoot into the mud, which apparently is very difficult to move in because it sucks you down.  Two people unfortunately ended on their rear ends, and it was funny to watch all of the locals trying to wash off the two who had fallen.  Even the councilman took off his jacket to wash the rear ends of our fellow travelers.  Everyone had a good laugh together.  We then continued in the bus to a local market where we were served rice balls from the farmer’s previous plantings.  It was delicious sticky rice, and adjacent to one of our first “country” markets, where fruit and vegetables were available in bins.

Lunch was at another park, and then we had another 40-minute drive to Uchiko, made famous (1868-1926) by its wax derived from Sumac berries.  Crude wax was used to make Japanese candles or hair oil.  Once the crude wax was bleached by the sun, it became white wax and was used for cosmetics, medicine, candles, and wax polishes.  Our first stop was at the Japanese Wax Museum (http://www.uchiko-kankou.info/spot_center/spot_c3/), which had several dioramas of how the was was processed, and included the attached Kamihaga Residence (1894).  The walk then took us through many of the original homes of that period.  Before returning home, we visited a Kabuki theater, Uchiko-za, built in 1916 and used for performances of Kabuki, Bunraku, and motion pictures.

Our welcome upon arrival:

Here are some photos of the rice planting (that’s Tom in the middle stooping down):

These photos are from lunch, the town of Uchiko, and the Kabuki theater: