Thursday Snapshot: Fish-shaped Soy Sauce Container

Bento soy sauce container.
Nara Prefecture, Japan

We spent part of a recent vacation visiting and helping out on a natural farm in Nara Prefecture. Kazuto and Erina Hamma of Hamma Farm were glorious hosts and teachers who we now think of as friends. I learned a great deal while weeding with them both, which left plenty of time for talking. They graciously and patiently answered the questions I incessantly peppered them with, including why fish-shaped bento soy sauce containers kept appearing under the tea bushes. It turns out that the organic farmer who worked the fields before them used the namagomi (raw garbage or compost)  to fertilize the fields. A few of these little guys made it through the sorting process.