A lone daikon radish recently discovered to be growing at the foot of a busy pedestrian overpass in the heart of the western Japan metropolis of Osaka has vanished without a trace.
The root vegetable, commonly used in a range of Japanese dishes, had attracted attention after it was found late last week protruding a few centimeters out of the asphalt near the busy JR Osaka Station, close to the Hanshin department store in the central Umeda district.
What appeared to be a bunch of green onions with a label stating "Produce of Hiroshima Prefecture" was planted in its place on Sunday night, but those vegetables had also disappeared by the following night.
A man in his 40s who had come to see the thriving radish with a colleague on his way home from work expressed his disappointment at missing out.
"I was impressed and encouraged by (the radish's) vitality to grow in a place like this. I came all the way to get a glimpse of it, but it's gone," he said.
In 2005, a daikon radish found growing out of an asphalt sidewalk in neighboring Hyogo Prefecture also attracted attention. It was nicknamed "Dai-chan" but was soon broken off by someone.
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