Abstract
This study reassessed the procedures and methods of agricultural and rural geography based mainly on the author’s fieldwork experiences of conducting research and surveys on the following three research topics since 2013: “commodification of rural space in Canada,” “sustaining and developing strategies of Japanese agriculture,” and “regionalization of Japanese agriculture.” It was confirmed that the investigation and research on the three research topics were closely correlated and followed the stages of “foreshadowing,” “conception and preparation,” “execution,” “repetition,” and “development,” respectively. To sustain the research, the basic attitude of “thinking in and from the field” is indispensable. The study found it was necessary to make comparisons with foreign countries, introduce applied aspects, expand the results of research in a small region to research issues in a wider region, and continue research and study over a long period of time. As for the procedures of fieldwork, in addition to those already presented, the importance of cooperation among researchers, consideration for the human rights of the surveyed, establishment of good human relations between the researchers and the surveyed, as well as the return of research results to the study areas, were pointed out.
