2007/09/05

I recently spent 6 days in the Kansai area (Wakayama, Osaka, Kyoto, Nara). I stayed with Kudo-san, a retired elementary school teacher who bailed me out on a number of occasions when I used to live in Wakayama. On Saturday, September 1 I visited friends in Osaka and Kyoto. On Sunday, I visited Mr. Yoshikazu Kawaguchi at his home in Nara-Prefecture.

Kawaguchi-san is the leader of a no-till, organic, non-mechanized agricultural movement and teaches at Akame Natural Farming School once a month. I attended Akame’s monthly gatherings when I lived in Wakayama. Kawaguchi-san also teaches Chinese herbal medicine. I hope to have the time someday to translate his books.

On Monday, I visited Mr. Susumu Hashimoto and his family.
I worked closely with Hashimoto-san for 18 months. He was one of my first agricultural mentors. He has expanded since we worked together, and now has a full-time assistant. Most notably, he now produces over 2000 liters of soy sauce a year. In addition, he’s now almost 90 percent seed self-sufficient, that is, he saves almost all of his own seed.