Masanobu Fukuoka: Japanese Organic Farmer
(Page 2 of 13)
July/August 1982
By the Mother Earth News staff.
Incidentally, if you're puzzled by several instances of apparent contradiction in the following comments, consider that Fukuoka-like the Oriental philosophers who deliberately present students with what seem to be illogical statements or paradoxes—is perhaps trying to help people break habitual patternsofthought and develop new perceptions. Andbecause his natural farming does demand such an unaccustomed mode of thinking, Fukuoka-san warns that it is not for the timid or the lazy: "My method completely contradicts modern agricultural techniques. It throws scientific knowledge and traditional farming know-how rightout the window." What's left in the wakeofthat revolutionary (and sometimes admittedly befuddling) upheaval, however, should excite — and challenge — anyone who'd like to see a simpler, more natural form a of agriculture take root.
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PLOWBOY: I notice that you're drawing, Fukuoka-san . . . what will the picture be?
FUKUOKA: It's a sketch of a mountain scene, and there's a poem with it:
Deep in the mountains, a gentle soul asks,
For whom do the wildflowers bloom?
For foxes and raccoons,
Who know the pine winds and
The spirit of the valley stream.
PLOWBOY: Can you explain what you mean by that verse?
FUKUOKA: Well, there are many ways of defining this "gentle soul". It could be a person . . . a flower . . . a tree . . . or even the grass. And if one could ask this soul why it lived all alone, deep in the mountains, it would answer, "I am not living here for anybody's sake. Just to listen to the fox and the raccoon, to talk to them and be with them . . . that is why I am living here."
PLOWBOY: Are you the figure I see in the drawing?
FUKUOKA: I'd like it to be me!
PLOWBOY: Well, it's certainly evident from your artwork and from your approach to farming that you value having a close relationship with nature. Were you raised in a rural setting?
FUKUOKA: Yes, I was an ordinary country boy, born in a simple country house. My father—who served as the leader of our small village—was a landowner and farmer. I grew up just as the other local children did . . . going to school and helping my parents and neighbors in the rice fields.
PLOWBOY: Did you begin farming as soon as you had finished school?
FUKUOKA: No, I first went to a special technical institute to study microbiology and plant pathology. Then I moved to Yokohama to become a quarantine officer at the Agricultural Customs Office. My job was to inspect, and experiment with, Japanese mandarin oranges and American oranges. I learned a lot there about the weaknesses and diseases of different plants . . . and greatly enjoyed my laboratory work. However, at the age of 25, I underwent a change of heart—and mind—that caused my life to be completely different from that time on.
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