tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60732897815021510432012-01-16T14:44:29.512+09:00What is the nature of life? A journey into a modern Japanese society searching for a simple yet sustainable life.Sacchanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02601765674512202457noreply@blogger.comBlogger311100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073289781502151043.post-40228379280248148422010-05-10T23:48:00.010+09:002010-05-11T11:43:26.184+09:00

Over grown Asparagus. すくすく伸びるアスパラ。Last year at Tsukushi farm, throughout the entire rice growing cycle, our paddy was subject to careful monitoring and surveillance by sharp-eyed, indomitable sparrows. In Spring, they slipped through tiny holes in the nets covering the seed beds and glutted their endless appetite with delicacies (rice seeds). In Autumn, they pecked the plumpest grains just before

Sacchanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02601765674512202457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073289781502151043.post-61542020686397691042010-03-26T16:24:00.003+09:002010-03-26T16:32:02.181+09:00

the goat trying to encroach on a neighbour's territory. 隣家の領域を侵そうとするヤギWhen I was a small child, I hated the darkness heralded by nightfall. My parents used to put me in bed around 8 o’clock and my real struggle would start when they stealthily left the room and shut the door behind. No matter how physically exhausted I was after playing in the field all day, I could not go to bed immediately.

Sacchanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02601765674512202457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073289781502151043.post-14964019545057725302010-02-14T22:21:00.011+09:002010-02-15T16:57:35.008+09:00

Seed bed in the rice paddy 田んぼの中の苗床Today marks the New Year of the lunar calendar. Yesterday, the last day of the agricultural cycle, Tsukushi farm members gathered and visited the Ichinoya Yasaka Shrine near the farm to show appreciation for nature, the joy in farming, and the Kami’s custodianship of the land. The fine snow falling on us all afternoon grew heavier by the evening and covered our

Sacchanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02601765674512202457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073289781502151043.post-69297311889971170872010-01-30T14:55:00.001+09:002010-02-04T20:26:09.150+09:00

5th generation shizennou broad bean. 自然農5世代目の空豆ちゃん。Last Sunday, I attended Akinori Kimura’s lecture held in Saitama prefecture. Although this was the second time I had heard Mr. Kimura talk, and despite　much of the content being familiar, his gentle manner, passion for farming, and enthusiasm for educating people about the intersections of food, nature and their lives, were touching.The session

Sacchanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02601765674512202457noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073289781502151043.post-41294985781328028262010-01-23T19:28:00.004+09:002010-01-23T19:47:04.473+09:00

I took the plunge and bought this kettle.清水の舞台から飛び降りてしまいました～。water becomes sweeter. お水が甘いよ。When I was a little younger and travelling a rural area of Southern China, I saw many beautifully hand-crafted souvenirs. Complicated embroidery, hand-dyed cloth, beautifully polished jade statues were in abundance. I derived no satisfaction from negotiating the prices with local people, but tried with my

Sacchanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02601765674512202457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073289781502151043.post-9619833659425452142009-12-31T19:27:00.003+09:002010-01-01T23:54:39.049+09:00

2010　Osechi 　2010年度版お節Dusting the shelves and cupboard, scrubbing the refrigerator and stove, polishing plates, cups, glasses and cutlery. As I clean, I cleanse my mind, and my appreciation for everything that kept me alive throughout the year grows. People, events, nature, books, encounters…I stand in the kitchen preparing Osechi (festive food for the New Year) and cast my mind over 2009.The

Sacchanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02601765674512202457noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073289781502151043.post-47076178858708292612009-12-07T16:10:00.000+09:002009-12-22T16:18:12.727+09:00

Tsuku-Ichi つくいち　photo by Yama-sanThe first Sunday of each month, a small market called ‘Tsuku-Ichi’ is held at the Central Park, outside Tsukuba Station. To assist the Tsukushi farm manager and their colleague, I sell vegetables grown on the farm. The notable feature of ‘Tsuku-Ichi’ is its vision – producers sell to customers in person and provide safe, trustworthy and locally produced products.

Sacchanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02601765674512202457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073289781502151043.post-43950023766687741622009-11-16T21:46:00.000+09:002009-11-25T21:55:39.598+09:00

A sunny Monday morning and my mother wears a traditional kimono, hurrying through the crowded subway station. On this day, she will be presented with the Ranju Hosho (the blue ribbon medal) for her services to the local community. The year coincides with the 20th anniversary of Heisei Tennou’s accession, my mother’s 20th year work anniversary, for which she will be granted the medal, and is 20

Sacchanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02601765674512202457noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073289781502151043.post-26726291762579313632009-10-30T15:33:00.011+09:002009-10-30T16:20:37.877+09:00

The rice harvest time has come. A grain of rice planted in Spring had sunk its roots deep in the ground, grown over twenty shoots throughout the Summer, with each shoot now bearing several hundred grains. By late Autumn, one rice grain had multiplied six to seven hundred fold, and was drooping under the weight of plump rice grains. I carefully cut the shoots, tie them up in a bundle and hang them

Sacchanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02601765674512202457noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073289781502151043.post-6726843370246537132009-10-05T18:57:00.008+09:002009-10-05T23:12:41.885+09:00

One of the attractions of farming practice is the limitless sense of ‘space’. Within your designated area, daylight hours are yours to spend. You wander through various ideas as these arise or pursue and develop topics further. Once the field grows darker and you find that you are left alone in a dim light, however, you suddenly seek company – those with whom you can share your daytime

Sacchanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02601765674512202457noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073289781502151043.post-341437450256079582009-10-03T15:25:00.000+09:002009-10-05T18:56:39.954+09:00

I know I know...it's rusting a bit. sigh... ちょっと錆びてますね、、、。うう、、、。At home, frying pans, kitchen knives and other pans all used to be made of cast-iron.The family sat around the table and attended thinly sliced beef in the sukiyaki pan. Meats easily burned when the iron plate was heated to its maximum temperature. My parents hurriedly served us cooked beef in each of our bowls, which contained

Sacchanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02601765674512202457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073289781502151043.post-68394253036702604942009-09-17T14:51:00.005+09:002009-09-24T19:40:49.135+09:00

munch munch munch. 　もぐ　もぐ　もぐ。When we adopted Awako (the famous goat repeatedly appearing in my blog pictures) from the eponymous restaurant ‘Awa’ (Millet) in the Nara prefecture, the previous owner summarised the nature of goats in one sentence: their memory lasts only for three days. For the first three days, Awako cried mournfully with all her might and looked frantically for her mother –

Sacchanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02601765674512202457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073289781502151043.post-56675526997784948682009-09-04T13:37:00.005+09:002009-09-04T20:07:28.907+09:00

I am currently reading ‘The God Delusion’ by Richard Dawkins. He is one of the academics I most respect, however his writing and themes are often too sophisticated and difficult to comprehend for a non-native reader. Besides, I keep being distracted by the concept of ‘God’ used in the book, which, as acknowledged by Dawkins, is far different from the Japanese understanding of ‘Kami’.The other day

Sacchanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02601765674512202457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073289781502151043.post-27334703455351990732009-08-21T20:34:00.005+09:002009-09-26T11:19:29.856+09:00

The recent and continual earth tremors make me anxious about my parents. They live in the central part of Japan, the area which has been predicted to be the next epicentre – in a house full of books.As a child, I preferred foreign fairytales to Japanese folktales but my father’s bed time stories were always the latter. Stories consisted of farmers and animals, with the occasional entrance of

Sacchanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02601765674512202457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073289781502151043.post-48532524878366115402009-08-13T13:45:00.005+09:002009-08-13T14:02:41.132+09:00

My garden is located in Tsukuba city where I spent 4 enjoyable years at University. Arriving in Tokyo at that time was a special event since there was no direct train from Tsukuba. After the opening of the Tsukuba Express Line, the city is now within commuting distance for anyone working in Tokyo.I live in Kitasenju (North-East Tokyo) so door-to-garden is 50-60 minutes including a short bus ride

Sacchanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02601765674512202457noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073289781502151043.post-68312648168265053952009-08-10T15:45:00.004+09:002009-08-14T09:38:35.691+09:00

Her name is Awako (literally, ‘Millet Child’). She was born in a quadruplet in Nara prefecture as a daughter of Nana-chan the mother and Boss the father, siblings including one kid brother and two kid sisters. She currently lives in Tsukushi Farm in Tsukuba city.Having driven from Nara to Ibaraki by car for over 10 hours when she was only three months old, Awako now learned how to adjust her body

Sacchanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02601765674512202457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073289781502151043.post-77669495296966374282009-08-04T23:39:00.005+09:002009-08-04T23:58:20.905+09:00

‘Nature’ includes everything around you – the sky, mountains, trees, insects, microorganisms, animals and yourself. Each one of us carries out our usual conduct at our own level in order purely to survive. The relations between each level in the hierarchy can be symbiotic or harmful when we single out and consider specific events. This year, most of us in Tsukushi Farm experienced one such

Sacchanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02601765674512202457noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073289781502151043.post-7691651708764299532009-08-03T14:07:00.000+09:002009-08-04T23:57:13.491+09:00

The level of Japanese customer service is known to be one of the highest in the world. You can experience it at hotel receptions, banks, railway stations, department stores and many other places. When the level of service exceeds requirements, however, it starts irritating you. At larger chain shops such as McDonalds, every greeting word is uttered as if from a manual. For instance, I order “one

Sacchanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02601765674512202457noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073289781502151043.post-4096031855793419932009-07-31T14:49:00.001+09:002009-08-04T16:27:35.298+09:00

Leaving a familiar place and stepping into a foreign world requires some preparation. Changes are not easy.Having worked for a great company for over 5 years, it is time for me to change. Involuntarily, your thinking, way of talking and even the speed of your walk is set to the nature of your work.To free myself from my old habits, I took a few days to travel and see something of Nature.I have

Sacchanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02601765674512202457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073289781502151043.post-13866483374330233462009-07-18T22:05:00.019+09:002009-07-18T22:51:45.645+09:00

This year is the fourth time we have grown rice. Each year is different and we repeatedly encounter new, exciting and sometimes overwhelming challenges.In the first year in the previous property called “Kise”, we were threatened by overgrowing reeds which covered the entire paddy. This particular field was fully equipped with a water irrigation system which had been left unused for a several

Sacchanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02601765674512202457noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073289781502151043.post-34516535813208949232007-07-26T23:32:00.000+09:002007-07-29T23:41:51.637+09:00

I returned from work a little distressed after a day that had not been best. I was tempted to walk to an Izakaya (Japanese style pub) near my flat, to have a few glasses of Sho-Chu (Japanese spirit), but remembered the Shizen-nou cultivated vegetables contentedly in my refrigerator from the previous weekend.With little thought, I chopped the vegetables, washed dirt from the potatoes and threw

Sacchanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02601765674512202457noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073289781502151043.post-88028034149434856902007-07-22T23:21:00.000+09:002007-07-29T23:31:28.574+09:00

Growing vegetables in the field is an isolated task. You work in silence, from the moment the sun rises until it sets. Aside from rice/seedling harvest times, people usually work individually. Your sole concerns are the weather, water, insects, moles and birds, not other human beings.In countries where hunting had constituted the main source of food supply, being solitary was not the most

Sacchanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02601765674512202457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073289781502151043.post-45542966055068447102007-07-07T20:58:00.000+09:002007-08-13T15:29:01.297+09:00

How long is it since you last played with mud?The feel of muddy soil in a paddy is completely different from the one found in a vegetable garden. When you place your flat palm on the smooth surface of mud, you can feel the warmth of the sun. Sink both hands in a little deeper. The temperature is surprisingly low underneath. Dirt creeps under fingernails. I sigh to think about the business meeting

Sacchanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02601765674512202457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073289781502151043.post-79956225795545747352007-06-24T22:14:00.003+09:002009-07-20T23:53:59.183+09:00

I courteously wipe the surface of a bulky, slightly misshapen wooden table, and place an old scale, dozens of rattan baskets, handmade flyers, a calculator, bundle of papers and pens. Rearrange them in a different order. Put some back in their original place. There are few items on the table. I walk down to the signboard and flip it to ‘Open’. The reception desk is now ready to serve the first

Sacchanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02601765674512202457noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073289781502151043.post-27134014278779732142007-06-23T21:56:00.002+09:002009-07-20T22:51:23.538+09:00

There is a small farm café called ‘Pique Nique’ near our allotment, run by a young couple trained in Southern France. The husband cooks simple yet delicious food, using locally grown vegetables, and fresh meat and fish. His wife bakes bread and cakes. The couple prepare food in a modest mobile-home kitchen, and the meals are very reasonably priced – lunch plates, for example, cost 550

Sacchanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02601765674512202457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073289781502151043.post-84245902371870535982007-06-20T21:16:00.002+09:002009-07-19T23:28:43.831+09:00

you have to dig trenches....The first week of May is called Golden Week in Japan as it includes public holidays, which, depending on where the weekend(s) fall, can mean 5-10 days continuous break. In the countryside, you see many farmers planting rice seedlings at this time. Some younger people who work in cities return to their home town in the country during this time and assist in planting

Sacchanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02601765674512202457noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073289781502151043.post-44406103707742120752007-06-19T01:52:00.004+09:002009-07-20T22:30:05.042+09:00

no plowing, no fertilizers, no weeding, and no chemicals.do nothing unnecessaryWhen the temperature rises over 30 degrees in Tokyo, there is nowhere to escape from the heat. The heated air does not disperse into paved asphalt roads but stagnates between concrete walls. Without extra energy sources to cool it down, such as air conditioning or water sprinklers, sustaining everyday life becomes an

Sacchanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02601765674512202457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073289781502151043.post-36075728148477676432007-06-18T21:41:00.002+09:002009-07-19T18:31:06.002+09:00

Worldwide dissemination of LOHAS (Lifestyles Of Health and Sustainability) has reflected a growing trend in Japan. Eating organically grown vegetables at a health focused restaurant, wearing organic cotton or silk shirts, sipping fare traded coffee at a quiet café – these are all aspects of the so called ‘slow life’ which is enjoying increased popularity among women of my generation. I do not

Sacchanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02601765674512202457noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073289781502151043.post-53597062177994970032007-06-17T19:12:00.005+09:002009-07-20T22:16:36.238+09:00

After graduating from Tsukuba University, I went to Melbourne to teach Japanese language and culture at secondary school level. Because of my father’s work, from early childhood until I left home to study at university I was always surrounded by international students, who had a healthy appetite for learning about all aspects of Japan. My parents took good care of these students, and tried to

Sacchanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02601765674512202457noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073289781502151043.post-49965055310265638872007-06-16T20:53:00.004+09:002009-07-19T18:13:20.587+09:00

This is my vegetable garden…..can you tell how green the plot of land is? You will find cabbages, tomatoes, zucchinis, rape blossoms of corn marigold, silverbeet, lettuce etc happily growing alongside clover, dandelion, horsetail and assorted other weeds. I hope you can tell the difference between the vegetables and the sizeable weeds - they are in fact coexisting harmoniously and symbiotically

Sacchanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02601765674512202457noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073289781502151043.post-57221116093207255462007-06-15T21:17:00.002+09:002009-07-19T18:05:44.278+09:00

Born and educated in Japan, lived in Melbourne 1997-2002, London 2003-2006 and Tokyo 2006-present.Inspired by the concept and philosophy of ‘Shizen-nou – Natural Farming’, I am currently renting an allotment in ‘Tsukushi Farm – Tsukushi Nouen’, which is managed by an old university friend and in Tsukuba city, one hour away from Tokyo. Along with twelve other participants　（※30 members as in 2009),

Sacchanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02601765674512202457noreply@blogger.com1