The Seeds We Sow — Takachiho Village Japan
Photo Credits: ©GIAHS Takachihogo-Shiibayama Revitalization Association, text modification by Erika Smith
Documentary Written Narration
| Agriculture | Agrarian Society | Generational Farming | Traditional Culture | Village Life | Community Farming | Teamwork | Mountain Farming | Forestry | Rural Life | Rice Fields | Tea fields | Cattle Ranching | Livestock | Food Production | Farmer Perspectives | Japan | Asia | Kyushu | Miyazaki | Takachiho | Biosphere Reserve | GIAHS — Global Important Agricultural Heritage Systems | Heritage Sites | Sustainability | Sustainable Farming | Integrated Farming | Sowing | Reaping | Harvesting | Takachihogo-Shiibayama Mountainous Agriculture and Forestry System |
This article was written complimentary to the documentary, “The Seeds We Sow,” which you can find below.
The landscape of Takachiho village in Miyazaki prefecture of Japan remains the same as it has for centuries. A farming village lies nestled among the mountainous horizon with terraced strips of rice and tea fields creating a dreamy mosaic of green, brown, and tan-shaded farmland. Weaving throughout the paddies are supporting canals, primarily built by the community itself over the past hundred years or so.
The area is now globally recognized through the United Nation’s GIAHS program. The Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems program aims to recognize and protect local agricultural systems.
The southwestern Japanese town has a population just shy of 12,000. Takachiho Gorge draws many visitors and tourists and Takachiho shrine dates back over 1,000 years old, but besides these impressive sites and feats, Takachiho remains embodied in the everyday life of villagers who grew up learning and passing on the inherited wealth of knowledge and skills their farming predecessors handed down to them.
Farm life starts early in the morning when the dew is still rising from the misty slopes. Here, dirt is a part of everyday life and boots are more practical than fashionable. Cows munch on hay in their stalls as a farmer keeps records of their health. Other farm workers diligently inspect vegetables and harvest and prune with expertise gained by experience.
“I couldn’t be happier, hearing this sound,” a farmer says. A distinct thump is made every time he tosses a fresh crisp bell peppers into his crate. He harvests them one by one. Later he finds equal pleasure in tallying up the total harvested…110 on the first round.
An adolescent Japanese farmer pulls a cart to harvest cucumbers. One might expect him to be in a college or pursuing more modern careers paths, but he shares his story of why he chose farming instead. “I looked around at many other areas and decided that here -that this is the best place to live and farm that I’ve been searching for… It’s great how everyone supports each other in the course of their lives and their farming. It was one of the main reasons I decided to move here.” Some of the cucumbers he picked are prepared with rice for lunch during his downtime.
The rice paddies spanning the view are a sight to behold. They are so well kept they may have onlookers believing it’s fairly natural, but the grassy areas require a lot of upkeep. The farmers make so much effort to shape the landscape; no one can do it alone. A group of workers assemble in the morning and go out together to tame the unruly grass encroaching on their fields, pathways and canals. They use traditional hand-sickles as well as electric weed-eaters. The young new farmer is touched by there humble response to his compliments on their ability to turn the place into something more beautiful. They are simply doing what they always do -what they have to do.
The mountainside slopes of the village pose a more difficult terrain to manage than say a flat land that could easily be grazed by a lawnmower. Instead, every inch is covered by foot, but they have to be kept up or they will take over and grow too wild. The thick tall grass is cut 3–4 times each season and the grass cuttings are used as fodder for the cows, a very resourceful way to recycle waste. For this reason the cattle ranchers are involved in helping protect the landscape as well. A different concept of “recycling” as everything on the farm contributes in a cycle of sustaining itself.
“The devotion of the people to the land here is completely different than how it is in other places. We’ve really had to work very hard to maintain the land.” Says one of the farmers.
Since the farms here are not as large as other places, even more care is given to maintain them. Work and living come together to create the beautiful landscape of Takachiho. A communal meal is prepared by women indoors for the hard working laborers coming in after a long day in the field. Laughter and cheer is shared as well.
Another part of Takachiho farm life is the trading and selling of livestock. At the animal auction, careful attention is given to livestock by their owners who ensure they look and feel their best. The auction area is impressively tidy. Interested buyers sit in tiered rows of desks in a semi-circle as each of the livestock are displayed and judged. Afterwards, a farmer walks proudly away with his new prized possession.
Back on the home farm, modern technology meets mother nature as a late-night farmer watches his phone closely for changes in temperatures, signaled by sensors in several of the expecting mother-cow’s rear-ends. Every five minutes the temperatures are updated. A mother cow’s temperature is low, so the farmer suspects she will give birth by the following day. He says he even dreams about them when he is worried. This shows just how much this farmer cares about his cattle.
Sure enough, by morning, a baby calf is found peaking his out of his mother’s womb. Extra fodder is prepared for her. Several farmers aid her in birthing the calf. They slowly and gently make sure the face is visible before easing the rest of its body from its mother, standing patiently in her stall. As the calf is laid on the fodder, one of the farmers quickly reacts using his own mouth to suction the baby calf’s nostrils for excess fluid, ensuring it has the best chance to breathe and survive. Just as quickly, the calf is splashes with water and towel-dried before the farmers leave the area, giving the mother and her new calf a chance to bond together in peace.
The feeble calf almost flips as it tries to move and stand, but before long it’s standing on all fours. A testament to the miracle of life and unexplained zeal for adapting to its new environment. Still shaky and wobbly, the mother cow protects it from a nosy neighboring cow. Takachiho farm continues to grow and sustain itself by these new little lives.
A new days dawns on the quiet village. The sun peaks through the trees of a darkened forest. The canals are flowing with water free of debris thanks to the upkeep of the farmers. An elderly man sits cozily under the futon blanket flowing from a kotatsu, a traditional, low, wooden dining table with a heating element underneath. A male member of the household opens a black and white photography book of his relatives and shares stories. He points to a photo of his grandfather and to another of his elder sister with younger sister in tow on back. He laughs over fond memories.
He reflects, “Farming families used to be huge in the past -no matter where you went. It was normal for there to be three or four generations. Even in my family, there were 11 at one point. There used to be more family members. Now, there’s only three people and over there, [(suggesting neighbors)] just three too!”
While many older traditions are continued, modern machinery such as grain-harvesting tractors are used in Takachiho farming. Maybe this is one of the reasons why families can stand to get by with being smaller while still continuing to farm.
The golden-brown rice dangles in the field and is ready to be harvested. A lone farmer rides along the edge of the row on a small Kubota wheat harvester (tractor). While this may have once been done by many hands and sickles, the combine quickly collects an entire row in one long sweep, dropping nicely formed bundles along the path behind it. The bundles are then driven by truck to the drying racks. The farmers flip the bundles upside down to hang dry for several days. An older farmer pushes an engine-powered harvester (similar in build to a wheelbarrow), collects the bundles and hangs to dry on racks in the field of a smaller rice paddy farm.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Interesting random facts:>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
In Japan, rice is planted in Spring/Summer months and harvested in Autumn. Please note however there is a big difference in Japanese seasons and American. In America, we have 4 seasons — Spring, Summer, Autumn (or Fall) and Winter. In Japan, there are also 4 main seasons…and a lot of other “seasons”. Read more here
Close to where I live in Jacksonville, FL there are several tractor and heavy equipment renters and dealers that carry Japanese brands, inlcuding Kubota as mentioned in this article and Takeuchi.
In the U.S., John Deere tractor brand remains the most popular.
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One of the farmers predicts that in just 5 years, out of the 16–17 houses in the village, only a few will remain inhabited. Who will look over the land when the older generation is gone? What will attract the younger generation to remain in this isolated mountain lifestyle when so many are leaving for college, jobs and attractions in the bigger cities? How can they raise awareness?
“Our Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) can tell everyone, “Hey, there’s a great place here. Having been born and raised here, I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say that we have to preserve this environment as much as possible for our children and grandchildren. It’s easy to lose traditions which have been handed down through generations, but no matter what happens, the land always remains. There might be more or less people, but the land doesn’t change because of that. It stays the same. If people disappear, the land becomes abandoned and it will just go back to being wilderness and mountains. But you know, building such a long mountainside irrigation channel that we have today took many generations. So, at the very least, I feel I don’t want to waste their efforts by letting it all go wild.””
A prayer is cheerfully chanted by a group of local school age children who are having a picnic on the grass. They all wear yellow uniforms with sunhats while enjoying their bento meals. A boy teases another who has rice stuck to the side of his face. [A reminder of how familiar rice is to the diet of Japanese people, but will these children realize the important of where their rice and veggies come from enough to invest their future into it?]
A teacher carefully guides them down an outdoor staircase as they walk through nature. They have just walked under a Torii gate (for a Shinto shrine) from which hangs 3 rice straw tassels held by a rope made of rice staw. This is a traditional way of making shimenawa. Shimenawa is a special rope tied around or across an object or space to denote its sanctity or purity. (view more photos of shimenawa here including a huge one at the bottom of this link. And here are some creative pictures of enormous rice structures at a festival.)
The sun is setting on rice farmers who are clearing bundles from their fields into evening. The sun is setting behind the mountains looking over beautiful Takachiho village.
Inside a Japanese house, a multi-generational family sits around the table eating and discussing the local attendance and practice of Kagura, a traditional sacred dance and music ritual dedicated to the Shinto gods. The ancient tradition is performed at festivals where ceremonial prayers are given to petition the gods for a good harvest and to ward off natural disasters. Impressively, the practices are held weekly all year round, but that doesn’t mean everyone always shows up for it.
Dancers practice in their white robe garments shaking clusters of bells in hand, gracefully flowing to the beat of the drum as onlookers watch from the sidelines. Costume pieces are measured and cut by hand, rice straw is twisted into ropes, flutes are played and singing by the dancers fills the quiet night. Cheerful chatter and laughter are enjoyed by a group of men sitting on the floor in a close circle while they work on festivities. Kirigami (cut paper decorations) banners hang ready for the big day.
The group will stay all night working until morning. In the past they would continue for several days on end, drinking and talking until they ran out of things to say. The fun gets a little out of hand if too much drink leads to fighting. “It’s better to just go home.”
A new days dawns. Some of the men make a trek through the forest to harvest bamboo stalks and light lumber for building a small hut frame. As the season gets cooler, warm drinks are needed to keep the men hardy. A group of women pass the hot drinks and begin to prepare lunch for 60. Plenty of root vegetables with delicately sliced meat and sticky loaves of mochi. They cheer each other on with encouraging words. Meanwhile the men continue building the hut and the women come out to watch them erect a tall tree pole decorated with rice straw that helps hold a wheel of white flags. Everyone is getting in on the action and you can feel the sense of celebration starting to grow.
A man reflects on the importance of relationships in a small village, whether traditions are continued in the same way or not, if people want to live or farm. “We all had to work together. There was no other way.” He continues reflecting on Kagura rituals. “Without Kagura, our farming will die out, because it connects us physically and spiritually…[and] what we could lose as a community is more than anything we could imagine. I strongly believe [it] plays an important role in keeping us united as one community. Everyone helps out, even if they’re reluctant.”
An open fire warms the men who are now dressed in full costume and putting on their masks. A musical parade marches through the street alerting the village of festivities. Next a young boy is bitten on the head by a dragon, then a woman volunteers. [Don’t worry, only for fun] The man holding the head of the wooden dragon mask is hidden under a green cloak. [This tradition extends to many parts of Asia.] Dancers in the street hold bells and bows and move in sync. As night falls they move indoors and more dancing on stage continues amid all the decorations
In the kitchen a question is posed as to who knows how to cook bee larvae. No one knows for sure, but a woman suggests cooking it in butter and no one argues with her as long as the task is done. Another suggests it tastes like shrimp. They tease each other about trying it. Bee larvae in Japanese is called “hachinoko” and is a delicacy type food popular in Nagano prefecture.
Fun fact:
Hachinoko — Only slightly less surprising than finding out bee larvae is edible, is that one of my favorite Asian food testers, youtuber “Emmy” @ EmmyMade gives an honest review of what eating bee larvae tastes like for all of you so eager and curious to know. 😉 (Click Here) If you’ve ever tried bee larvae before, please share in the comments below!
Momentum builds as ceremonies continue and bunched branches made into logs are swung by several members of the practice. Swing them back and forth with speed but controlling them within the space. The next day, people gather outside around the hut the men previously worked to build. Rituals are performed by tying ropes to the door frame of the hut and chanting and shaking the bells. The hut sits behind the shrine and the ropes extend into the square where other festival-goers join in chanting and jumping with the ropes. At last they laugh and clap as the ceremony ends. Respectful bows are given between ceremony practitioners and the crowd.
“Deep down, I guess I just love this town I live in. I want to forever preserve the lifestyle I experience today. Just because I love my homeland. I’m sure that’s what makes me feel this way. We’ve all become globalized now, where if you have money, you can do anything, but you know, I think its nice to have at least one village or town like this around. So, I want to preserve what we’ve been doing since ancient times as long as what our forefathers have left for us are still treasured, then I guess that’s all I want. That’s how I feel.”
Takachiho is filled with the life of the villagers, but it is also full of nature, surrounded by towering evergreen forests to the tiniest of grasses that give life to the insects and animals they sustain. An entire ecosystem preserved by the agricultural society, now with the help of being recognized by GIAHS. Life here may be busy and a lot of hard work, but the environment allows for downtime that is often spent in beautiful life-giving natural surroundings and in the company of others who share in the sowing and reaping of all they have given their hearts to. As the seasons change, so the life of Takachiho village will continue to change…and the sun will rise and set again.
Thank you for the taking the time to read this article and share in the interest of agrarian society in Takachiho village. There was a lot more I picked up on by writing this than just watching the video documentary that inspired it, but I highly recommend watching it to get the audio and visual elements missing from this article. Plus, there’s a really sweet song at the end with lots of good highlights from the making of the film. You can watch in English with subtitles and narration or in Japanese with just the recorded film.
If you have any insight please share and contribute in the comments below!
Japanese language without narration
English with subtitles and narration
Check out more resources below including how to visit Takachiho village and experience farming first-hand!
Be blessed,
iam:ForeverBlessed
Want to do more than just read about Takachiho farms or watch a documentary? How about plan a visit to a tourist-friendly farm where you can milk dairy animals and eat right from the farm?
https://www.kagoshima-kankou.com/for/attractions/50883
Hospitality in Takachiho Village
Ancient customs: The Spread of Agrarian Society with Rice Padding Farming
https://kome-academy.com/en/kome_library/origin.html
GIAHS — Ordinary is Extraordinary
Originally published at http://angleandperspective.com on February 18, 2024.
