Background to to travel and living in Kanuma, Japan

Kanuma is a small city, with a population of about 90,000 people, located between the mountains to the north and the plains of the Tokyo region to the south. Its nearest neighbor, Utsunomiya, has a population in the area of 450,000, and is the shopping and night life area for most people.

Kanuma, whose name means 'deer marsh' is an area noted for its rich soil. Its most famous agricultural crops include

• strawberries,
• konnyaku (don't ask me! My dictionary translates that as devil's tongue, some kind of plant. A jellied food is made from the root of this plant), and
• hemp (yes, that's right, marijuana is a principal crop, although I have heard that it has been scientifically neutered of its psychotropic agents.

And, of course, Tochigi rice is famous all over Japan, and some of that comes from here. In addition, there are a lot of

• apple and
• nashi (Japanese pear) trees

in this area.

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