Rural Areas Japan

Yoko Adachi could be sipping cappuccino on the Ginza, or planting imported rosebushes in a suburban garden. Instead, each spring this elegant daughter of a Tokyo doctor wades barelegged into her rice paddies, stooping to press the delicate seedlings into the mud. "I like the feeling of going into the rice paddies barefoot and planting the rice by hand," Adachi said. "I feel that the field and I are becoming one."

Yoko Adachi could be sipping cappuccino on the Ginza, or planting imported rosebushes in a suburban garden. Instead, each spring this elegant daughter of a Tokyo doctor wades barelegged into her rice paddies, stooping to press the delicate seedlings into the mud. "I like the feeling of going into the rice paddies barefoot and planting the rice by hand," Adachi said. "I feel that the field and I are becoming one."

A blast of the horn, a final rev of the engines, and the ferry lurched out of port toward the blue-black clouds on the horizon. "Just like going to the Vineyard," I said, thinking aloud. Cynthia cocked an eyebrow. My chopsticks were poised to tuck into a packed lunch of fish, tofu, rice, pickled cabbage and candied peas. The steam from a pot of salty green tea curled upward. A crash of cymbals over the PA system preceded yet another announcement.

A blast of the horn, a final rev of the engines, and the ferry lurched out of port toward the blue-black clouds on the horizon. "Just like going to the Vineyard," I said, thinking aloud. Cynthia cocked an eyebrow. My chopsticks were poised to tuck into a packed lunch of fish, tofu, rice, pickled cabbage and candied peas. The steam from a pot of salty green tea curled upward. A crash of cymbals over the PA system preceded yet another announcement.

A backlash is growing among Japanese lawmakers against what they call "high-handed" pressure from the United States to end Japan's curbs on imports of farm products. Sadanori Yamanaka, former head of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, warned Tuesday that "a cornered mouse may bite at a cat." "We can find other sources, such as Argentina," for Japan's imports of agricultural products, Yamanaka said. Japan buys almost 20% of all U.S.

One by one, members of Japan's heartthrob pop band SMAP make their pitch: "You are not alone," says one. "Let's help each other," beckons another. Then comes the final exhortation from celebrity Tortoise Matsumoto: "Believe in Japan's strength!" Such public service ads that fill Japan's TV airwaves today are meant to buck up an anxious nation in the aftermath of the worst disaster since World War II. But the campaign reflects a deeper desire on the part of many in this still-wounded land: to propel Japan back not just to what it was, but something better and different.