On May 27th, as part of the commemorative event for the 150th anniversary of the founding of Chiba Prefecture, the "150th Anniversary of the Founding of Chiba Prefecture Rice Field Art in Sanmu City Rice Planting & Wedding Ceremony in the Rice Field" was held in the rice fields adjacent to the "Orai Hasunuma Roadside Station."
The purpose of this event is to raise awareness of the 150th anniversary of the founding of Chiba Prefecture this year, as well as to bring together many people across the barriers of generation, region, and nationality to experience farming and interact through food and art, thereby promoting understanding of diversity and the realization of a society in which communities coexist.
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences was commissioned by Chiba Prefecture, which is hosting the event, and 40 students from Professor Teshigawara Takayuki's seminar at the faculty are responsible for planning and running the event.
On the day, a total of 230 people, including participants recruited by the prefecture and fifth and sixth grade students from Hasunuma Elementary School, split into 11 groups and, despite getting stuck in the muddy rice fields, spent two hours planting seven different types of rice.
After the rice planting, two couples held a "rice field wedding ceremony." The wedding ceremony was planned by current seminar students, following the wishes of the seniors, Nobuhiro Taira and Riho Sakano (graduated in 2018), who were originally students in Professor Takayuki Teshikawara's seminar and worked on revitalizing the Sanmu City area, and Yi-kun Chen, an exchange student from Taiwan, who wanted to hold the ceremony in Sanmu, a place full of memories for them.
After the couple exchanged vows, they received a marriage certificate and a congratulatory message from Chiba Governor Toshihito Kumagai on behalf of the guests. At the end of the reception, they planted rice as their first joint project, and received congratulations and applause from many people.
