Sunflowers, Ukraine’s national flower, bloom in Kagoshima town

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:06 JST, August 4, 2022

KAGOSHIMA — A field of sunflowers basks in the sunlight against the East China Sea in Nagashima, Kagoshima Prefecture.

The contrast of yellows and blues is a draw for visitors, with the best time to see the sunflowers through the end of this week.

Since the sunflower is the national flower of Ukraine, donation boxes have been placed at several locations in the area to support people from Ukraine who have come to the prefecture following the Russian invasion of their country.

Residents of Karakuma settlement started cultivating these sunflowers three years ago to create a local landscape and use the plants as green manure for their fields. This year, they planted seeds on about 9 hectares of land after the potato harvest in May.