Wild Asparagus Grows Through Japanese Sidewalk

SAPPORO -- A wild asparagus has amazed people in a northern Japanese city, where the vegetable is a specialty crop. It popped out of a paved street earlier this month and has kept on growing.

The asparagus, now 23 centimeters tall, is one of seven that began sticking out of a 3-cm-thick part of the asphalt sidewalk on busy Route 12 in Bibai, Hokkaido.

Wild asparaguses were spotted there until the sidewalk was paved last fall. "But I never thought we could see them again this year," said Michiyo Bando, chief of the nearby Bibai Odori Minami post office.

To see a photo of the powerful veggie, visit Kyodo News.