Satoyama is usually located at the upperstream of rivers near the mountains, and these places are known as depopulated areas, as well. In order to increase the population, there are all kinds of attempts to revitalize the community: Mud volleyball is one of them.
In Nishioji area where I live in Hino, a mud volleyball tournament is held annually at a rice paddy for many years, and this year’s event was held yesterday.
It was scorching hot, apparently the temperature went up to 38 degrees centigrade, but my son wanted to watch the matches until the end. Well, at least he was wearing an Australian cap he received as a souvenir from a couchsurfer, may be it was heat proof-haha.
While the World Cup final was drawing worldwide attention, what was hot in Nishioji was the mud volleyball tournament on a rice paddy.
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