Japan is a country of myths. According to one Japanese myth, Amaterasu Omikami passed rice on to her earthly descendents and ordered them to make rice abundant in the country.

That order was inherited by Japan's emperor, and to this day, the imperial court holds a ceremony of gratitude every year called the "Niinamesai", offering new grains to the gods.

Formerly, the whole country came together with the emperor and this thanksgiving ceremony was observed in all corners of Japan.

A poem written in the Kojiki, an ancient chronicle, says: "Yamato is the highest part of the land; the mountains are green partitions lying layer upon layer. Nestled among the mountains, how beautiful is Yamato!" As this shows, Japan was naturally blessed with beautiful greenery from the remote past.

In addition, Japan was called "Toyo Ashiwara no Mizuho no Kuni - The Land of Fresh Ears of Rice of Fertile Reed Plains" from time immemorial, wherein a Japan-specific culture centered around a rice crop in the midst of abundant nature was created.

We hope to be resuscitated by the original scenery of those beautiful Japanese rice crops in the paddies; and by continuing the tradition of the Niinamesai, to give thanks for the blessings of heaven and promote a good dietary education.

We would like to take this opportunity, inheriting Japan's wonderful cultural traditions, to come together and work for the promotion of dietary education and cultural exchange, and at the same time, consider the state of the world.

Hiranuma Takeo, promoter
Toyama Okisuke, director

Rural Resources Development Association

Time:

Tuesday, 29 November, 2011

11:30 ~ 14：30 : Meiji Shrine Sanshuden

Location:

Meiji Shrine Sanshuden (meeting hall)
1-1, Yoyogi, Kamizonocho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 151

Sponsor:

Rural Resources Development Association

Support:

Friends of the United Nations Asia-Pacific.

Special collaboration:

Meiji Shrine

Assisting:

Ginza Honeybee Project, NPO
Local Culture Agency, LLC
Hibiki, NPO

Contact:

"Thanksgiving Meal and Get-together" Executive Committee
　　　　1-10-1, Nishi-Shinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105
　　　　Secretary: Hitsuoka Keiko
　　　　 e-mail：info@niinamesai.com

　　　　

Representative promoter of the "Thanksgiving Meal and Get-together":

Hiranuma Takeo

(Chairman of Rural Resources Development Association, President of The Sunrise Party of Japan)

Promotion:

Arimura Haruko

(Association advisor; member of the House of Councilors)

Hagiri Shinji

(Association advisor; organic certification examiner of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries)

Hattori Yukio

(president, Hattori Nutrition College)

Irisawa Hajimu

(Association adviser; former member of the House of Councilors; former director of the Forestry Agency)

Kaneko Yasuyuki

(Association advisor; LDP; member of the Lower House of the Diet)

Kitabata Takao

(Association advisor; former vice-minister of the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry)

Kujô Michihiro

(chief priest of Heian shrine)

Mizuno Seiichi

(former member of the House of Councilors, president of IMA, co.ltd.)

Nakajima Seitarô

(chief priest of Meiji Shrine)

Nakajô Takanori

(honorary advisor, Asahi Beer Co.)

Sen Genshitsu

(master of the Urasenke tea school)

Shimamura Yoshinobu

(Association advisor; former member of the Lower House of the Diet; former Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries)

Sonoda Hiroyuki

(member of the Lower House of the Diet)

Tao Norio

(scholar of constitutional and Imperial Household law)

Tôyama Okisuke

(director of the Association)