The treeless landscape of Mt. Aso reminds me of my native California, though in the latter case, water (lack thereof) is the cause, whereas in the former, field burning conducted in late winter kills off tree saplings while leaving grass roots covered with a nutritious ash layer.
Cattle are normally released to pasture in late April and may stay until as late as November, but release this year was delayed by a month due to obvious reasons. Yesterday, though, likely impatient bovines from as far away as Yamaga and Uto were released for their summer grazing. Ranchers pay ￥220 per cow per day as a grazing fee under a system instituted in 1996 - much less moo-lah than providing feed. Various ranchers expressed relief that the pastures are again open.
As for the cows, one was quoted as saying, 「モー、地震は要らん」 (“We don’t need any mow earthquakes”), while another seemed more stoic: “Live to die an udder day.” Others were seen chatting happily: “Who’s that new heifer?” “Dunno - never seen herbivore” and a cow telling her calf, “Off to bed! It’s pasture bedtime!” - William
