Cool Japan S2012E23 - Satoyama

Satoyama is a word that represents Japan's unspoilt scenery co-existing with local life and nature. Our foreign guests experienced Japan's Satoyama--natural thickets, rice paddies, and brooks; as well as the native bio-diversity--herons, frogs, and dragonflies. Many city families enjoyed rice planting using a rice paddy ownership system in Kamogawa City in Chiba Prefecture. Also featured is Niigata Prefecture's Sado City, where the Japanese crested ibis was born; and the community of Sado, where Satoyama preservation and semi-organic cultivation is promoted.