Host: The Association of Japanese Geographers
Name : Annual Meeting of the Association of Japanese Geographers, Autumn 2024
Date : September 14, 2024 - September 21, 2024
In recent years, slash-and-burn farming has been reconsidered in some areas of Japan. Examples include Tsuruoka City, Yamagata Prefecture, where swidden fields are used to produce turnips for commodities; I kawa, Shizuoka Prefecture, and Mizukami Village, Kumamoto Prefecture, where buckwheat is produced as part of community revitalization efforts; and Shiiba Village, Miyazaki Prefecture, where swidden field experiences are offered as school lessons. Based on these trends, the author has been promoting village community development through slash-and-burn farming in Itsuki-mura, Kumamoto Prefecture, from 2019 to the present. Here, through the interrelationships and division of roles among local residents, the government, and researchers, the process of mountain village development using slash-and-burn agriculture is grasped, and the way in which this process should be carried out is considered.
