noun
stack of rice straw; rice-straw rick
Refers to a traditional conical or cylindrical stack of harvested rice straw, commonly seen in rural Japan after the rice harvest.
秋の田んぼには稲むらがいくつも立っていた。
In the autumn rice fields, several stacks of rice straw stood.
昔は稲むらを屋根ふきに使った。
In the past, rice-straw stacks were used for thatching roofs.
稲わら refers to rice straw itself, while 稲むら specifically means a stack or rick of rice straw.
Compound of 稲 (いね, 'rice plant') and むら, an old word meaning 'heap' or 'cluster', related to 群れ (むれ, 'group'). The kanji 叢 is an ateji for むら.