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Every fall, the TV news shows scenes of His Majesty harvesting rice.
In the Imperial Palace, there is a "rice field" of about 300 square meters near the "Three Imperial Palaces," where the Imperial Rituals are performed.
This is where His Majesty cultivates rice.
In spring, he wears a long-sleeved shirt and pants and sows rice seeds.
In early summer, His Majesty is planting rice. His Majesty steps into the muddy paddy field in his rubber boots and plants one hundred seedlings by hand, one by one.
In the fall, His Majesty harvests the rice, dressed in work clothes and rubber boots, using a sickle to harvest the hundred stalks of rice.
We do not know of any other example of a monarch producing food that is indispensable for people' s daily lives, except in the case of gardening.
It was not until the modern era that the Emperor himself began rice cultivation.
Why does His Majesty work in the mud to cultivate rice, and why does he show the people how he does it?
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