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Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lflondon@mindspring.com>
  • To: permaculture@franklin.oit.unc.edu, market-farming@franklin.oit.unc.edu
  • Subject: A vanishing glimpse of traditional farming
  • Date: Sun, 14 Jan 2001 23:20:41 -0500



Date: Wed, 10 Jan 2001 05:14:54 +0900
Sender: Sustainable Agriculture Network Discussion Group
<SANET-MG@LISTS.IFAS.UFL.EDU
From: Keith Addison <keith@JOURNEYTOFOREVER.ORG>
Subject: A vanishing glimpse of traditional farming

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20010109wo35.htm
Daily Yomiuri On-Line

A vanishing glimpse of traditional farming

Kevin Short

The Japanese countryside shows amazing variation from region to
region. Each local landscape is produced by an interaction among the
physical aspects of the land, such as topography and soils, and the
historical and cultural context of the people that live there.

The Santomi Region of southern Saitama Prefecture, near the border
with Tokyo, is a good example. The land here is flat and featureless,
a plateaulike terrace above the Iruma River, a major tributary of the
Ara. The soils on the terrace are all composed of exceptionally
fine-grained loam blown in on westerly winds from erupting volcanoes
in the Hakone Mountains. This loam is soft and deep and easy to work.
On the other hand, it lacks the high organic content found in
bottomland soils, which are replenished regularly by river flooding.

Sustained agriculture is difficult in nutrient-poor soils like these
wind-deposited loams. The thin topsoil is soon exhausted, and in
order to maintain productivity the farmers must constantly replenish
the nutrients with copious amounts of compost.

Until the late 17th century, most of these flat Santomi uplands were
covered by fields of susuki plume grass (Miscanthus sinensis), that
were managed by local villagers as "kayaba," sources of thatch for
their roofs and feed for cows and horses. In 1694, however, the
Kawagoe Clan, which then ruled this part of the Kanto, began an
ambitious program for developing new vegetable and upland grain
fields. The nearby city of Edo (the old name for Tokyo) was growing
rapidly, and new farmland was required to feed its hungry burghers.

Under the direction of the clan, the land was divided into long,
narrow rectangular plots, approximately 700 meters long by 70 meters
wide. The farmstead was placed at one end of the plot, and surrounded
by a grove of tall trees. These farmstead groves included many
sharp-pointed conifers such as cryptomeria (sugi) and false cypress
(hinoki), which were planted as heavy timber trees for houses and
outbuildings. Tall, broom-shaped zelkova (keyaki) were also common in
the groves, and were utilized for lighter building and furniture.
Bamboo was essential for weaving baskets and making tools and
implements.

These trees were joined by big, bushy evergreen oaks (kashi) and
chinkapins (sudajii) designed to serve primarily as firebreaks.
Winter, when wood buildings, grasses, trees and brush are dry as
tinder and open flames are in almost constant use for cooking and
heating, has always been the most dangerous time of year in terms of
potential fire damage. These big evergreens stay green and moist
throughout the winter, and thus help prevent fires from jumping from
one farmstead to the next. As an added bonus, the acorns of the
chinkapin were edible and could be used as an emergency winter food
source in times of crop failure.

The fields themselves were laid out in strips in front of the
farmstead. They were first used to grow millets and other dry-field
grains, then later for various vegetables. From the mid-18th century
onward sweet potatoes (Satsumaimo) became a major crop. To indicate
boundaries, and also to prevent erosion of the soil by the fierce dry
winter winds that blow across the uplands, the plots were surrounded
by dense hedges of evergreen tea trees.

Not all of the long, thin plot, however, was devoted to fields. At
the far end of each plot was an extensive coppice forest, consisting
primarily of deciduous oaks but also including pines, snowbells,
cherries, dogwoods and elms. It was this coppice forest that provided
the key to sustainable agriculture. Every year a huge crop of dead
leaves could be harvested and made into compost that was then worked
into the fields, replenishing the exhausted nutrients. The coppice
also provided each family with a reliable supply of firewood for
cooking and heating.

This system proved highly successful. Each plot was a
self-sufficient, sustainable microcosm in which nutrients and
materials were constantly recycled. Economically, the Santomi farmers
were aided by their close proximity to a huge urban market. The
harvest could be shipped cheaply and easily by boat down river to
Edo. Santomi products included not only sweet potatoes and other
vegetables grown in the fields, but also surplus firewood cut from
the coppices, and tea leaves from the field hedges.

Today, the Santomi area sits on the very edge of Tokyo's immense
suburban sprawl. Surprisingly, remnants of the traditional
countryside landscape are still preserved in working condition. Some
farmers still maintain their farmstead groves and coppices, and
compost made from leaves is still used to replenish nutrients in the
fields.

A major problem in conservation of this landscape has been heavy
inheritance taxes levied on the coppices. These forests are not
formally classified as farmland, and thus accrue enormous taxes when
an old farmer dies and the land reverts to his son. Unable to pay
these taxes, farmers are forced to sell off part or all of their
coppice land. In many cases the land has been purchased by small
companies engaged in burning and disposal of industrial rubble.
Ironically, the smoke and runoff from these facilities may now be
polluting the soil.

Saitama Prefecture and several local governments have been working
hard to purchase coppice land, but the funds available for this
purpose are of course limited. What is really needed is tax and
subsidy incentives that encourage farmers to continue working their
land in the traditional, ecologically sustainable manner.

Copyright 2001 The Yomiuri Shimbun




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