By Ryohei Moriya / Yomiuri Shimbun PhotographerThe gentle sound of propellers can be heard as a drone flies over rice fields that are beginning to turn yellow. Its altitude, speed and route are all preprogrammed.

Ichikawa Farm in Asahikawa, Hokkaido, flies a small drone during cultivation of its pesticide-free rice about once a month. A special camera attached to the drone, which is flown 60 meters above the paddies, can capture near-infrared images and takes more than 1,000 pictures on each flight. The farm can check crop growing conditions based on computer analysis of the images.

A farmer in a town near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has harvested rice for the 1st time since the 2011 accident.

Noboru Watanabe harvested the crop from his paddy in the town of Tomioka on Monday, with local officials looking on.

Maidens at Kushida Shrine in Fukuoka's Hakata Ward use chopsticks to collect fallen gingko nuts during the "Ginan otoshi" (falling gingko nut) ritual on Oct. 4, 2017. The nuts, which are a vivid yellow on the inside, are from the roughly 22-meter-tall "Meoto ginan" (husband and wife gingko) tree that stands next to the shrine's main hall. Shrine staff use bamboo poles to shake the nuts free of the giant tree's branches to be collected and then presented as an offering to the shrine's deity. (Mainichi)

Plants are covering the peak of Mount Oyama on Miyakejima island south of Tokyo for the first time since the volcano erupted in July 2000.

"The amount of volcanic gases has significantly declined since last year, likely allowing plants to grow rapidly around the summit," said Hiroyoshi Higuchi, a professor emeritus of the University of Tokyo, who has been studying the ecosystem of the island each year since the eruption.

The Yomiuri ShimbunApple trees are bearing lots of fruit at the Kafuka Ringoen orchard in Koka, Shiga Prefecture, which just opened for apple picking. It is harvest season for Tsugaru, a popular variety of apple. "The weather has been favorable this year, so the taste of the apples is splendid," said Sadanori Shimoyama, 83, who runs the orchard. Picking of Tsugaru apples continues at the orchard until around Sept. 10. Speech

BIEI, Hokkaido--Visitors to the Shikisai-no-Oka flower garden here in central Hokkaido are enjoying a once-in-a-lifetime view of summer flowers arranged in a colorful tapestry of stripes.

More than 30 varieties of flowers, including marigold and plumed cockscomb, are now in bloom.

The Yomiuri Shimbun Japanese irises are in full bloom as visitors stroll in the Koishikawa Korakuen Gardens in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo, on Wednesday, when the Japan Meteorological Agency announced the rainy season likely started for the Shikoku, Chugoku, Kinki, Tokai and Kanto-Koshin regions. Compared to an average year, the season arrived on time in the Chugoku and Kinki regions, two days late in the Shikoku region and a day early in the Tokai and Kanto-Koshin regions.