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Spotlight
on Japan
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| Ch1 Literature & Language | |
| Ch2 Education | |
| Ch3 Culture | |
| Ch4 Geography | |
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Space and Behaviours: A Classroom Simulation |
| The Cultivation of Rice | |
| Two Geography Learning Activities | |
| Ch5 Social Roles | |
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| Teacher's Guide | |
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| Worksheet
B: A Woman's
Life On The Farm I live in the district of Nagano which is in the center of Honshu, the main island of Japan. My farm is surrounded by high mountain peaks, and the winters can be very severe, with temperatures dropping well below freezing. So it is up here in the mountains that I manage my 60 hectares (150 acres) of rice paddies. To be precise I should say our rice paddies, but as it happens my father is very old, my husband works at a dam construction site nearby and my son and his wife have moved to Tokyo. So, with the way things are, it's up to me to manage the land of our ancestors as best I can. Why then are we (the women) still working in the fields? It is because we are most often in control of the family purse strings. Despite mechanization, which has made farm work easier, many people no longer want to work on the land. Young people especially, reject farm work and leave for the cities. Husbands, too, may earn more in the towns, and this often leaves the housewives like me to do most of the farm work. This tendency has become a big problem in the farming world. I'm up by 5:30 at the latest every morning. My husband has to leave for work at 7:00 A.M., so I cook breakfast and do all my cleaning and washing before leaving home for the rice paddies by 8:00 A.M. My rice plants are marsh plants so they always need to be covered with sufficient water. The busiest times of the year for rice farmers are at planting time in early summer, at the weeding season in midsummer, and at harvest time in the autumn. It takes 145 days from the seeding of rice until the harvesting. Up-to-date fully automated machines can cut rice stalks, thresh and pack rice into paper bags. During these periods I usually work in the fields right through the day until dark - perhaps stopping once for a chat with neighboring wives over a cup of tea. When the cold winter blows over the land I am free from outside work. Then I have time to enjoy my hobbies. I knit toys and clothes for my family and it is a great privilege to enjoy a cup of tea sitting round the warm stove with my friends. I have been living this life ever since I was married. It is certainly true that farming is not an easy life and I cannot blame young people for preferring the bright lights of the city. But I love this land, and wish to continue farming as long as my health permits. Questions
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