Host: The Association of Japanese Geographers
Shimabata is one of the agricultural style and landscape in Japan. Shima means 'island' and bata does 'dry field'. That's shape is two storied, with paddies occupying the lower floor and unirrigated crops the thousands of elevated patches which rise like small buttes, two to four feet high, above the lower inundated fields(Trewartha 1928). Thus, those patches look like islands on paddy field. The remarkable feature of shimabata is to have elements of both paddy and dry fields. Kunio Yanagita said that Japanese agriculture had established by rice-producing. On the other hand, Hirofumi Tsuboi said that had done by farming in non-paddy fields. However shimabata does not fall under both theories. Shimabata was distributed in many places in Japan, at least forty years ago. That fact was cleared by J. Takeuchi(1967). But there are few sites where shimabata exists. Shimabata is formed at natural levee or edge of alluvial fan, for example. Those sites have handicap by water supply. People dug down land and make lower place paddy field. And then they make upper patches dry fields (= shimabata). That is wisdom for Japanese agriculture. However irrigation technology has developed, people need not dig down land for water supply. In addition, patch distribution of shimabata disturbs mechanization for agriculture. It is a profitable to put farm planning into effect in terms of agricultural production. Mitsui is a rare case and has a value to clear why shimabata has remained in that area. That area belongs to urbanization control area. So there is the restrict on changing to other land-use. In addition, farmers in that area have a small agricultural land and it is difficult to integrate their issues for future planning. It is different from the case that some places of rice terraces change for or/and are added tourist attractions. Shimabata also has ecological diversity because of farmers use few agricultural chemicals. They produce crops for themselves mainly, so they do or need not use. Various creatures can live there. Shimabata has not only historical value but also another one. However shimabata in Mitsui is on the verge of the extinction. It is also important that we record shimabata.
