Yakihata: Burning Fields to Respect Nature

"For example, it may be easier to understand if compared with “repeated cropping "cultivation where the same crop is planted in the same place every year," says Mr. Shiiba, whose family has been practicing “Yakihata” culture and pass the method to generations to generations.  “In “Yakihata”’s rotational cropping", we change crops to be planted regularly to prevent the appearance of specific pathogens and pests, and maintain the nutrient balance of the soil. So crops grow well even without using chemical fertilizers and pesticides at all. The ash that burns the soil becomes a fertilizer itself even though people add nothing. The crops can grow up only with the power of nature. After that, we will rest the soil for about 20 years and won’t touch it. This cycle until the next soil burning makes sustainable agriculture possible. Of course, the nature is not always the same. So you need to look carefully at the elevation and geology of each field and need to change the crop types and the fallow period."

The work of hiire (igniting fires) takes place on a dry day every summer. The participants need to work within more than 50℃ heat while paying attention to the flame.

The Takachiho Town / Shiibason area has been registered as one of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems by the UN in 2015. The long-term traditions, religious practices and the strength of the community were the key to the result. However, Mr. Shiina continues that many misunderstandings have claimed that “Yakihata” farming leads to deforestation the nature, since before the registration and even now. "It was upsetting. Before the Environmental Summit in 1992, some countries did unplanned deforestation and some world-wide news reported it while misunderstanding and mixing it with “Yakihata”. That was spread around the world and you know the result. Even in this village, some people say we should stop our culture "because the times are different”. But I knew that this is truly a sustainable way of agriculture because I had left the village for a while so I was able to see things with a wider perspective. I’m glad we decided to continue at that time."

How do you connect traditions in the changing times? Natural partners who are brought up slowly can not make rapid changes and take time. It is essential to take over the spirit of helping each other in the community, which the locals call "Kate ~ ri"."Everywhere in the country may be the same, but lack of successors is a problem. Luckily Shihha village has also been recognized as an agricultural heritage, and more than 20 people came to this mountain back in 5 years. I think it's like a living thing, and it is meaningless to preserve the slash-and-burn fields not just because they are traditional, but to continue, personally, the cedar trees that were overgrown by the postwar national policy, I planted chestnuts and cherry blossoms, and because I can eat fruit and tree trunks, there is no need for deer or deer to come to the village to seek food. From now on we plan to think more about coexistence with nature, including everyone. "