A former agricultural student has published a book about an unusual project to draw attention to the plight of abandoned pets that are killed in shelters — growing flowers in soil mixed with the crushed bones of dead cats and dogs.
Manami Mukai, 20, launched the "Inochi no Hana" ("Flowers of Life") project in 2012 with her classmates at Sambongi Agricultural High School in Towada, Aomori Prefecture.
"Crushing their bones with bricks while feeling the gravity of life and the great responsibility on my shoulders was harder than I imagined," Mukai said.