Yamagata farmer turns taro field into canvas for famed Nazca design

YAMAGATA -- A farmer here is looking to drum up a little attention for Yamagata and its taro roots with about an 80-meter by 50-meter Peruvian Nazca hummingbird design in a field of the vegetables.

Forty-three-year-old Takuya Sato began preparing the design in June this year, partly inspired by the presence of one of the world's leading geoglyph research centers at nearby Yamagata University. Once completed, Sato photographed the design with a drone.

The city of Yamagata is Japan's leading per-household consumer of taro roots, and is in heated competition with Sendai and Fukushima Prefecture for the title of most famous producer of the tubers. Sato conceived of the Nazca geoglyph plan to give his home city a leg up in this battle, with an appeal to the skies -- and eyes -- above.