Abstract
This paper investigates support systems for the conservation of rice terraces by people in cities and village farmers in Kamogawa city, Chiba prefecture. Further, it clarifies the activities carried out by these people and farmers and highlights the pertinent issues. In Kamogawa city, the ownership and trust systems have been established for the purpose of conserving rice terraces in not only Ooyama-senmaida, famous for its rice terraces, but also the areas covered in the special zone for the conservation of rice terraces and Kamogawa Ecological Minded Kingdom. In all cases, there are many applicants from cities who would like to participate in agricultural works such as transplanting, harvesting and so on, because these areas are located near the big cities. However, there are not enough instructors in the form of village farmers who usually teach and instruct the participants on how to perform the agricultural work; thus, the areas adopting the ownership system or the trust system are considered to be small. In the case of Kamogawa Ecological Minded Kingdom, a private citizen spends several million yen annually to employ full-time instructors for the purpose of managing and conserving rice terraces. Other areas tend to maintain a balance among part-time instructors, village farmers, and their budgets; however, they fear that they might be unable to sustain such instruction in the future.
