Fields of lotus in the countryside

Large pink lotus grace Uji's rural areas

By Cathy Cawood

Community writer

The blooms are magnificent at all stages

Lotus fields beside the Okubo Bypass road

It's hard to believe this is an agricultural crop!

Fully open lotus bloom about to shed its petals

Tea and rice were growing side by side with lotus in some places

On one of my long bicycle rides through the countryside around Kyoto I found a large area with many lotus ponds. At first I though that some altruistic Japanese had decided to create a vista of extraordinary beauty for the enjoyment of passersby. I was wrong, although I don't think my assumption was unreasonable because people have done just that all over Japan with plantings of cherry blossom, hydrangeas, cosmos and other flowers. However I realized that like the beautiful yellow rapeseed blossom in spring, the lotuses are a food crop. Lotus root is used in salads, tempura and stir fries. Beauty and usefulness!