On the train to Nikko we passed many rice fields. In the middle of these would be a house or family group. Their gardens were often tiny, but each had space for a few plants that were carefully pruned and maintained.
Another feature within the rice fields was the inclusion of a family burial plot beside the house. Elsewhere, there were communal cemeteries situated in the middle of the fields for small rural communities
In Takayama we went into a small restaurant which had seating for 8 people. The owner talked to us as she cooked our meal. We discovered she had lived in Australia for a while but was back with her family in one of these rice-growing communities. They had always grown rice for their own needs.
Now however, many of these plots have been sold to neighbours who enlarge their holding to make growing rice more viable. Families like hers continue to live in the fields but are no longer farmers.
We looked at the lush green, orderly rice fields with traditional houses and small neat gardens and saw beauty and a traditional way of life. Now as the farms are consolidated, we wonder if this way of life could disappear, although we saw no sign of this happening while we were there.
We would love to believe this lifestyle could continue forever.
