In the Pines

This photo was taken about a week and a half ago. The paddies in Otaki have been flooded to allow for rice seedlings to be planted. This is known a ta-ue 田植. The process creates in the landscape a set of parallel worlds stacked vertically upon one another. I wonder, sometimes, if one is truer than the other. Rice seedlings sprouted early this year and so ta-ue was also moved up about a week. Residents continue to tell me how unusual this year is. Global warming tends to be the favored culprit as I probe deeper with questions. How will the Otaki community respond to a changing climate? Will it be as simple as planting a week early? How can human members of the community predict some of the changes ahead? What can they do now to prepare? Contemplations sprouting from rice paddies.

The following is a link to a paper providing a brief overview of my research that I will be presenting during a panel discussion entitled, "Graduate Student Collaborations and Engagements in Environmental Change Research", at the American Anthropological Association (AAA) meetings in San Francisco this month. Take a look if it's of any interest. Socio-natual resilience: Anthropological engagements with environmental change research

"I fell down right in my field and just started crying." These were the words of a neighbor here in Otaki, describing the experience of finding that about 100 stalks of corn she planted had been carried raided by monkeys; the ears of sweet corn devoured. These words came to mind as I scoured over various reports this morning about monkeys causing trouble in oddly different places in Japan. Most of the reports were about a monkey that was discovered in Shibuya station in the heart of Tokyo. The Japan Times article . Mainichi Daily News article . Guardian U.K. video . Japan Probe blog . One report from the Mainichi Daily News (article here ), however, talked about Uozu, a municipality in Toyoma prefecture that has recently armed civil servants with shotguns to boost numbers for its "Harmful Wildlife Hunting Corps". In the report the mayor of the city is quoted as saying: "It's easy for staff to help out with the extermination even during weekday working ho...

I apologize for the long absence; I've been graced by visits from guests lately, so have been spending time playing in the mountains and canyons. I came across an article in the UK Guardian about a village, called Kamikatsu , in Shikoku that is striving to become a "zero-waste community" through a strict recycling program. The story intrigued me for two reasons. First, I wonder about the idea of "zero-waste". Second, I see similarities between Kamikatsu and Otaki in the resistance that some residents have to activities that draw on newer environmentalist themes. http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2008/08/04/japan460.jpg I wonder about the term: "Zero-waste". What does this mean exactly? I applaud the efforts of the residents of Kamikatsu , but it's important to note that recycling, not reduction (in either consumption or packaging), is the primary focus. In other words, reducing waste to zero will not be the final re...

In a story entitled "Cars and toilets go green at eco-friendly G8 summit" Reuters reported on some of the steps being taken by the Japanese government to insure the G8 summit currently being held on the northern island of Hokkaido is environmentally friendly. My favorite quote from the article was this one about how security forces at the summit are using "eco-friendly" Segway scooters: "Usually, we have to walk, so we get tired, but we don't get tired with this," said Kubo, an employee of Rising Sun Security Service. Though I do have to give credit to the reporters for pointing out the obvious: "how a scooter could be better for the environment than two feet was not so clear." Here in Otaki I've been watching thunderclouds coming from the Sea of Jap an billowing up into the hazy summer sky as they smack into the Kiso Mountains. I've been listening with delight to the dry cracks of thunder as they roll up and down the canyons. We ...

An article in the Mainichi Shinbun (毎日新聞) outlines a report released by the Japanese Government's Ministry of the Environment. Among other measures the report suggests building a dam on the Tone River to ensure water for rice agriculture and the forcible relocation of residents in coastal areas that are in danger of flooding. To read the full article click here . In terms of "resiliency", these kind of large-scale, intensive responses raise some alarm because of the unintended consequences they might have. Dams, for example, have extremely short lives and can cause havoc without appropriate institutional support to maintain them. I think government officials, including those in Japan, need to think more carefully in order to develop constructive responses to environmental changes of all varieties . Hasty responses done at large scales often have unintended consequences, which, by the time they come to light, are difficult to maneuver around because the social-environ...