Buckwheat flowers in full bloom

Have you ever seen buckwheat flowers? Flowers are white, and green leaves are heart-shaped, as you see in the picture. They were in full bloom and swaying comfortably in the breeze at Kasa-yama in Sakurai City, Nara. It was cloudy yesterday, so the scenery, not colorful but white, shades of green, shades of grey and a little of blue color, was creating a placid atmosphere.   Visitors were few and sparse:  I heard only the sound of wind and buzz of bees.



Buckwheat cultivation started 18 years ago at Kasa area.   As most of buckwheat are produced on the highlands of northern part of Japan, buckwheat is suitable for cool climates, but it grows and ripens rapidly even on poor soils. People of Kasa have succeeded by sowing late in season so that it will bloom in cooler weather.





Buckwheat is a highly nutritious grain. It maintains good health of capillaries and blood vessels, keeps our body resistant to infection, and prevents oxidation of vitamin C inside our body. Nutrition-wise, buckwheat noodle (made from buckwheat flour) is better than udon noodle, as it is said that brown food is better than white one. My husband and I ate buckwheat noodle at a restaurant on the hillside overlooking flowering buckwheat fields.

 

Last but not least, we paid a visit to Kasa-yama Kojin.   Kojin, or Sanpo Kojin, is a guardian god of Buddhism, a god of fire, hearth, and therefore kitchen, who dislikes uncleanliness. Kojin is originally an evil deity of Shinto (Japanese indigenous religion, nature worship) tradition, but by worshipping it, people has won it over to human's side.