A field of rice with dragonflies

Pale green stalks and delicate yellow grains fill the frame of this two-panel screen, positioning the viewer in a rice field at its peak of splendor. Six delicate dragonflies alight on golden ears of rice that are bent low by the weight of the grains. Among their many traditional associations in Japan, dragonflies are known as harbingers of a successful rice harvest. This symbolism has a scientific basis: rice fields provide a habitat for dragonflies, which require wet conditions for reproduction. Their life cycle is in synch with rice cultivation, and they once flourished along with the rice harvest, though the use of chemicals has led to a decline in their numbers. The combination of dragonflies amid densely packed rice ears thus suggests abundance in the natural world.