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| Field of Rapeseed Flowers in Yokohama Town, Aomori, Japan |
Nanohana Matsuri (Rapeseed Blossom Festival) is a neat little festival that takes place every year in Yokohama Town, Aomori Prefecture. The town features the biggest seeded acreage of rapeseed flowers in Japan; and the festival is a great way for people to come and enjoy the vast fields of the bright yellow flowers.
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| People enjoy a maze at the festival |
It’s a fairly local event, with about a dozen food/drink stands, small stage, as well as a simple maze through one area of the flowers. The weather was nice when I was there, so it was quite lively with some small crowds coming to check out the festival. Of course the main reason for going is really just to see the fields with your own eyes. It’s pretty spectacular.
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| Here I am standing in one of the fields of yellow flowers |
The fields of yellow blossoms are not only there for show but are harvested for a variety of uses. They’re grown for such things like animal feed, vegetable oil, and biodiesel fuel. In North America, “rapeseed” is usually referred to as, “canola,” and used for canola oil. In Japan, the cooking oil also goes by this name.
