Grant Recipient: Class of 2011
Major: East Asian Studies
Organization: Fukuoka Family Farm
Location: Ehime, Shikoku, Japan
This summer I am working and staying with the Fukuoka Family at their organic farm in the island of Shikoku in Japan. The farm is comprised of several rice paddies, vegetable fields, and citrus and kiwi orchards. Working side-by-side with the family and other employees, daily tasks range from weeding vegetable fields to packaging shipments to Tokyo or Osaka. Other season-related jobs include the harvesting of Amanatsu (“sweet summer” orange) and the preparation of rice paddies. Daily life is challenging and almost overbearing sometimes, as the tools and methods are unfamiliar and not quite suited to my body, and all communication is in Japanese. Though difficult, I am constantly being exposed to a completely different approach to daily life and farming, and therefore widening my perspective on how one lives one’s life. While staying here, numerous people interested in organic farming have come to visit, and thus I have been able to access a large network of organic farmers all over Japan. Using these contacts I plan to continue my experience when I depart the Fukuoka farm, traveling and researching the impact and influence of the Fukuoka family's farming methods throughout Japan.
