permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lflondon@mindspring.com>]

 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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