by Koyu Furusawa

1. Historical consideration on Japanese agriculture and resource management

We human beings can not live independently. It is needless to say that there is an intimate relationship between the environment and us, such as air, water, soil, forest and agricultural land. One of the important factors to support us is food that is mostly produced by agricultural ecosystems. There are food-chain relations around us, such as farm crops, livestock and fish, and those are dependent on the natural environment, such as rivers, hills, forests and so on. Not only agriculture but also fishery depends on forests in mountains; this will be mentioned later. All of nature around us coexists with each other. Probably we can say that a sustainable society would be realized in a sense whenever there could be created a good balance in the human-nature ecosystem.
Agriculture is the most basic relationship among various interactions between human beings and nature. We can easily understand and recognize the contradictions of the human-nature interactions through agriculture. As concerns about a model of human-nature relationship, it is very useful for us to analyze the agricultural systems to understand sustainability and a harmonious development. Agriculture itself could be formed as a harmonious balanced system in some areas of the world, even though it would be a kind of human intervention to the natural system and could sometimes destroy the environmental harmony.

From historical point of view, there was a kind of sustainable development pattern had achieved. For instance you can see an interesting case in the middle age of Japan. In this case there was an example of ecological resource management system related with agriculture and people's life stile in Japan. It is well known that the ancient agricultural civilizations, such as Mesopotamia and Egypt, caused environmental destruction and desertification. On the other hand, agriculture can be cultivated continuously and sustainability for thousands years; for example, the methods which were introduced in the book "Farmers of Forty Centuries; Permanent agriculture in China, Korea and Japan" written by F.H. King 1911, republished by Rodale Press in 1973. As one of the case analyses, we would like to review a traditional Japanese agricultural system from the cultural-ecological aspect.

Generally speaking, in an agricultural society in the Middle Ages, many human societies had been standing on a regional resource circulation system for a long time. Especially in Japan, in the Edo era, 1600-1868, the Japanese feudal government had a national isolation policy; almost no trading outside the country, which meant a self-sufficient and recycled resource management system, was introduced inside the country. In addition it had practiced unique disarmament policy which was abandonment of firearms, after the adoption in 1543. After the adoption of new weapon, gun, the Japanese tried to improve gun technology very quickly, and by 1600 owned more and better guns than any other country in the world and abandoned them (Noel, 1979). In the Edo era they could enjoy pacific society and also developed ecological sound technologies, arts and culture.

2. Socio-cultural evolution - ecological life in the rice plant

It was a unique social experiment in our human-being history from a socio-cultural evolutional point of view. Almost every resource was managed in a sustainable way and used the recycling system, from paper to human compost. The capital city was Edo (Tokyo, now), one of the biggest cities in the world at that time; the population, nearly one million, was managed very effectively. For example, human compost and slops discharged in the city were collected and used in farmlands as fertilizer. Basic human activities; such as having meals, evacuating and collecting compost, were very related to agriculture and those were formed to a material circulation.

There were some core substances such as bamboo, straw, trees and clothes (silk, cotton, hemp) that were used in a multi-purpose way and recyclable way. Above all, the use of straw, sub-product of rice, is very sophisticated and interesting. Straw was used for food processing, housing and clothing. For instance, it was used for straw-shoes (Waraji), straw-raincoats (Mino), fermented soybean food processing (Nattou in Wara-zuto), thatch, lashing, bale, pot-folder, wall (partition) reinforcement, toys, etc. The earthen walls of the houses were usually reinforced by straw. The straw was twisted to produce rope, and employed for making carpets (like Tatami mats), thick pillows, and carriers for babies. Many articles of clothing too were made from rice straw: hoods and hats, various kinds of raincoats and gloves, sandals and snow-boots. Various artifacts made of straw were used in life. Some special plant straw, rice straw was partly included, was commonly used for covering the roof in rural areas in the past. Such thatched roofs are very rare now and highly regarded in this modern society.

Furthermore rice straw has been used to make religious instruments, such as Simenawa(ornament) in shrines that has been a symbol of a spiritual life. When straw is twisted together it emerges as a large symbol displayed in shrines. When pieces of straw are flattened and softened for easy use, they are transformed into the sacred straw festoon which served as a New Year's decoration. In Sumo wrestling, which was originally a religious ritual, the Dohyo circle is made from rice straw now. Rice straw had become an important part of the Japanese culture, Fig.1 (Furusawa, 1989).

In other words, rice straw was used to clothe oneself from head to foot. People were born among straw, brought up among straw artifacts, ate food from rice straw utensils, worked while wrapped in straw, slept in a straw futon, made religious offerings, related and prayed to the gods through straw, and after dying returned as a spirit to the ancestral home on the smoke of burnt straw. Every area of life was deeply rooted in the rice plant. (3)

Not only the cultural aspect but also from an ecological point of view, it was very important that those materials were completely well managed in its entirety. They made perfect material circulation and zero-waste systems, which meant every straw was finally burned as a fuel and also those ashes were used for industrial raw materials, such as dyestuffs, cast metals, etc, or ended in farmland as fertilizer. Another important point is that those resource management systems were deeply related to people's cultural ethics and spiritual life.

3. Alternative lifestyle　? change the consumption pattern

Concerning a food shortage caused by the increase of population, a new technological innovation like bio-technology is going to be expected. On the contrary, the modern agricultural technology, which has attained high productivity like green revolution, has brought environmental damages. Alternative attempt such as organic agriculture or sustainable agriculture are going to spread. But generally speaking, the productivity of these agricultures tends to be low. It would be questioned whether organic and sustainable agriculture could supply the expanding demand for food. In other words, "Can organic agriculture provide sufficient food for peoples worldwide?” This is very big question and various kinds of arguments have occurred in the world.

One of the answers for this question is that we must review not only our production system but also our life style especially our consumption pattern. Because the production pattern deeply depends on the consumption one and also our life style. In this contents there have been tried to attempt some important initiatives addressing on reformation of life style, through changing the consumption pattern, one case is already mentioned above, those are working on global environmental issues.

Another case very related with global environment was "The Diet for the Earth" campaign, which was organized at the time of climate change conference in Kyoto in 1997. They intended to save energy and resources through ecological life style on the basic concept of Environmental Space. (4) One example related with the food pattern is eco-friendly menus and cooking style. You can save energy and resources by them. Typical example is that too much eat of meat or unnatural and untraditional foodstuff not only spoil our health but also burden the environment. If people all over the world would take meat diets and make bulk garbage those were typical in the wealthy counties, the agricultural products provided by the present farm land on the earth could fill only half of their stomachs. But if they take a kind of vegetarian diets as in India, it can fill nearly double fold of stomachs as now in the world. Therefore the consumption pattern is a key to the question whether organic agriculture can provide enough food for all the peoples in the world (Brown, et al., 1994, 1999).

There are many alternative activities that recreate our way of life in various ways. In those activities it is important to build the relationship among the people and nature. Another unique initiative to conserve the bio-region, from the watershed mountain area to the river and bay, have launched in Japan. Those were started by oyster culture fishermen at the beginning intended to plant trees in hills and mountains of the watershed area. The reason why they did was the declining of oyster harvest caused by deforestation in the watershed area that supplied minerals and nutrition to the livings in the sea. They recognized the relationship among the mountain forest, river and sea. Meanwhile city people also have begun to support and participate these initiatives and water conservation. Thus sea conservation movements have joined together with forest conservation movements and people lived in this area have gathered to preserve the bio-region. Similar wide range of relational activities have been started between urban area and rural area, children in cities went to rural areas to learn farming, forest management, traditional culture and way of living.

To conclude the organic movements should not be reduced as agricultural techniques without use of chemicals. It should be considered as a symbiotic technology and development to create alternative relations between human beings and nature, and among individuals as well as to create alternative values.

4. Towards sustainable society

Finally let's consider the more strategic perspective toward sustainable society. This is a simple illustration of a modern production system, Fig.2. It illustrates an expansion of Input-Output system. It is symbolized as mass production, mass consumption and a great amount of waste. Our socio-economic system has been growing very rapidly through a huge expansion of resource use (Input) and waste and pollution (Output). This illustration can be applied to almost every system of our human activities, such as our daily life, modern agriculture and various types of industries, from a small individual scale to a large national and global scale.

It is also characterized as a linear mono-cultural type of system that is measured by a simple evaluation, such as quantity of production, economic profit and benefit. In other words it is partial optimum system from a narrow economic aspect for only human beings, not for natural ecosystem or other living beings. It has a tendency toward a disturbance and destruction of the harmony of nature. Therefore it is necessary to convert the mono-cultural system to more diverse multi-cultural system.

A sustainable society is sure to be achieved by these numerous efforts spanning the micro and macro-economic spheres, if people of all walks of life take voluntary action, and if various measures are executed through mutual cooperation and co-existence interaction.

In the future, our values will shift from the pursuit of materialistic satisfaction to more profound concern with matters of the human spirit. Metaphorically speaking, the quality of art is enhanced by a full, enriched spirit rather than by an increase in energy and resources.

Human development will not continue unless we abandon our fetish with materialism and egoistic economy. On the contrary it will promise us a sustainable enriched civilization and a symbiotic society when we will be emancipated from a materialistic and egocentric way of living and create common sharing society in harmony with the every human being and nature on the Earth.

<< NOTES >>
(1) The Kyoto Protocol ; it was adopted at the third session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997.
http://unfccc.int/resource/convkp.html
(2) For instance, carrying capacity is an evaluation of the maximum number of individuals of a defined species that a given environment can support over the long term. Environmental space is the capacity of the environment to support human activities by regenerating renewable resources and absorbing waste. This concept was researched by Friend of the Earth's group and tried to make clear global equity and sustainability. Ecological footprint is the idea of land and water required to support a defined economy or population at a specified standard of living, which was studied by researchers at the University of British Columbia at the school of community and regional planning.
http://www.footprintnetwork.org/en/index.php/GFN/
http://www.japanfs.org/en/pages/022673.html
(3) The National Museum of Japanese History. It is the only museum of Japanese history in Japan, which supports systematic research and exhibitions of Japanese history and culture.
http://www.rekihaku.ac.jp/index_ne.html
Institute for Japanese Culture and Classics, Kokugakuin University; Traditional Japanese cultural studies from a global perspective and analyses of modern culture, related with Religious Studies, Shinto Studies, and Folklore.
http://www2.kokugakuin.ac.jp/ijcc/index.html
(4) Here are some Japanese NGOs’ website.
Kiko Network (NGO): active group on the prevention of dangerous climate change
http://www.kikonet.org/english/index-e.html
Japan Center for a Sustainable Environment and Society (JACSES): Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) conducting policy researchand public advocacy for a sustainable global environment and society.
http://www.jacses.org/en/index.html

<< REFERENCES >>
Brown Lester R., Hal Kane, 1994, Full House: Reassessing the Earth's Population Carrying Capacity, W.W.NORTON & COMPANY, New York. Brown, et al., State of the World 1999: (7) Feeding Nine Billion), W.W.NORTON & COMPANY, New York.
Brundtland, et al., 1987, Our Common Future: The World Commission on Environment and Development, Oxford University Press.
Furusawa Koyu, 1989, Life Rooted in the Rice Plant, Resurgence No.137 : 20-23. 1992, Co-operative Alternatives in Japan, “A Future for the Land”, Green Books, UK : 139-150. 1994, Tei-kei: partnership between farmers and consumers, ILEIA Newsletter, Vol.10 No.1, Netherlands : 10-11.
Henderson Elizabeth, 1999, Sharing the Harvest: A Guide to Community-Supported Agriculture, Chelsea Green Publishing, USA.
Meadows, Donella H., Meadows, Dennis L. et al., 1972, The limits to growth : a report for The Club of Rome's project on the predicament of mankind, Universe Books, New York.
Meadows, Donella H., Meadows, Dennis L. & Randers, J.,1992, Beyond the limits : confronting global collapse, envisioning a sustainable future, McClelland & Stewart, Toronto.
Meadows, Donella H./ Randers, Jorgen/ Meadows, Dennis L., 2004, Limits to Growth : The 30-year Update -- Hardback （Rev ed）
Noel Perrin, 1979, Giving up the Gun: Japan's Reversion to the Sword, 1543-1879, David R. Godine, Boston.
Rees Williams E., Phil Testemale, Wackernagel Mathis, 1995, Our Ecological Footprint: Reducing Human Impact on the Earth, New Society Publishers, Canada.