


Yesterday, I enjoyed digging up sweet potatoes in Miyoshi Town, Saitama Prefecture, which is designated as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Site (GIAHS). As I am also registered as a Concierge for Miyoshi Town’s GIAHS, I had fun helping out a little. These sweet potatoes are a typical crop grown on farmland developed in the early Edo period using fallen leaf compost farming methods, and were brought to Edo and became famous as Kawagoe potatoes. After listening to an explanation of the farming methods that have been passed down based on the sustainable farming methods that began in the Edo period and incorporate new technologies such as the latest agricultural machinery, we actually enjoyed digging up sweet potatoes by hand, the old-fashioned way. Then, while the sweet potatoes were roasting, we made wreaths using the vines of the pot