153

Evaluating Cultural Values of the Satoyama Using
the Preference Method
Takakazu YUMOTO1*, Yuuki IWATA2 and Yukihiro MORIMOTO3
1*

Research Institute for Humanity and Nature
457-4 Motoyama, Kamigamo, Kita-ku, Kyoto 603-8047, Japan(Present affliation: Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University)
2
Asia Air Survey, Kawasaki 215-0004, Japan
3
Kyoto University, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan*e-mail: yumoto.takakazu.6w@kyoto-u-ac.jp

Abstract
We tried to estimate the values of ecosystem services using the stated preference method and the revealed preference method, with the objective of incorporating these values into the basic concept of ecosystem goods and services, a tool used in decision making processes, in order to create a new “commons.” Thedataset from “The Top 100 Japanese Rural Landscapes” showed that rural Japanese landscapes, known as thesatoyama, have great cultural value related to tradition and history. Many people feel a sense of “homeland”
or belonging concerning paddy fields, villages and people’s old settlements. At the same time, villages
surrounded by nature give them a sense of seasons, time, and the presence of other living organisms. These areservices that the urban landscape cannot offer. The dataset of “questionnaires to people who are notparticularly involved in satoyama movements” also demonstrated the image of the rural landscape with theattributes of nature, mountains, rivers, forests, homeland and a place for relaxation. At the same time, it
revealed that 10% of people felt that they would like to live in rural areas in the future. Jobs such as “attractive
agriculture,” the renewable energy sector or ”telecommuting” to offices using the Internet, along with
opportunities for social interaction are required for people to live there or to consider double residency inurban and rural areas. Paying a premium for “environment/organism brands” by urban people can beconsidered payment for ecosystem services (PES) to promote monetary contribution to maintain thesatoyama.
Key words: cultural service, double residency, “environment/organism brand” products, homeland,
questionnaires

1. Introduction
In light of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment(2005), framework and a previous study pertaining tointerlinkage (Iftikhar et al., 2007), three types of interlinkage are indicated: (1) among the ecosystem services
themselves (2) between ecosystem services and humanwell-being and (3) between time and space. Among theecosystem services, cultural services are defined as“non-material benefits people obtain from ecosystems
through spiritual enrichment, cognitive development,
reflection, recreation and aesthetic experience” (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). Their values are
hard to estimate, partly because the cultural services are a
mixture of various and uneven elements, and partly because these values exist in only people’s mind. The
secondary forest attached to agricultural villages, whichused to provide wood, charcoal and organic fertilizer is
Global Environmental Research
16/2012: 153-162
printed in Japan

known as the satoyama proper. However, in the modern
Japanese context the satoyama has only a limited economic influence in providing provisional services forvarious industries, and most Japanese rural landscapes
have lost their function and been abandoned or incorporated into urban fringes as a result (Brown & Yokohari,2003). The importance of cultural services which provide
the feeling of “homeland” has increased a lot comparedto the era when the satoyama had considerable value forits provisioning services.
More than a decade ago, the satoyama began to berecognized as a hub of biodiversity (Fujii 1979; Fujii &Shibata, 1981; Hamada & Kuramoto, 1994; Hayama
et al., 1996; Ishi, 2005). It was later revealed that constant human intervention had provided an environment
well suited to native Japanese species that had adapted toconstant natural disturbances such as earthquakes, storms
and volcanic activity (Washitani, 2001). Additional©2012 AIRIES154

T. YUMOTO et al.

studies also highlighted the importance of habitats inagricultural fields (Moriyama, 1997; Saito et al., 1988),
and along with the development of landscape ecologicalstudies in the 1990s (Numata, 1996), the satoyama cameto be regarded as a collective unit of a secondary forest
and its surrounding elements such as cultivated land,grasslands, small rivers, ponds and reservoirs for
irrigation that were once connected with the traditional
agricultural system. It is also sometimes called a“satoyama landscape” (Takeuchi et al., 2003; Fukamachi
et al., 2001). Due to the decline of biodiversity followed
by abandonment of secondary forests, as well as disappearance of traditional agricultural systems, manystudies have been conducted to understand the relationship of the satoyama with the traditional management
system in order to create new satoyama and satoyama
landscape management systems. Those studies mainly
focused on paddy field agricultural systems (Fukamachi,
1998; Kanata, 2000).
Because of the importance of the satoyama which haspreserved biodiversity in Japan as well as providing
various ecosystem services, we have to look for nonconventional methods to preserve the satoyama. The
satoyama has been maintained by individuals or the local
community who benefit from its provisional services(Fukamachi, 1998; Kanata, 2000). However, we need tocreate a new “commons” which can be maintained by abroader range of people who receive the regulating andcultural services provided by the satoyama.
In this paper, we try to estimate the value of these
services using the stated preference method and the revealed preference method with the objective of incorporating them into the basic concept of ecosystem goods
and services. In particular, we have focused on the possibility of double residency in urban and countrysideareas, and the additional value of “environment/organism
brand” products as tools for decision making processes
for creating a new “commons.”
Double residency can be considered as a measure
which governments, both local and national, can take toincrease the number people who are involved seriously insatoyama maintenance. We wanted to know the ratio ofpeople interested in double residency and the problems
which hindered people who would otherwise do it. On
the other hand, a number of people may not be interested
in living in rural areas. Another measure urban people
can take is to promote monetary contribution to satoyama
initiatives. Recently, “environment/organism brand products” have been receiving attention as a measure forpayment for ecosystem services (PES). More than 30“organism brands” of rice are being sold on the Japanesemarket, e.g., Oriental Stork rice, Medaka (Killifish) rice,
Japanese Water Beetle rice, all named after endangered
species living in satoyama landscapes. These “organism
brands” of rice are ca. 10%~25% more expensive thannormal rice. It is important to access people willing topay (WTP) for such environment-consciousness additional values as PES in order to utilize market mechanisms to maintain satoyama ecosystem services.

2. Methods
In 2008, the Asahi Shimbun Company, one of thebiggest newspaper companies in Japan organized “TheTop 100 Japanese Rural Landscapes” contest to select the
100 best Japanese rural landscapes, using a system of
public nominations. The question asked was, “Where is
your favorite rural landscape, and why?” The generalpublic wrote the name of a place and the reasons for theirselection in an open answer. The criteria were landscapes,
biodiversity and human activities.
Asahi Shimbun collected 4,474 nominations from thepublic for about 3,022 nominated sites. We classified thenominated sites into six landscape types: forests, mixed,
paddy fields, other agricultural, urban & suburban, andcoastal landscapes, using a non-hierarchical cluster
analysis combined with geographical data such as landuse provided by the National Land Information Office in
1997, mean altitude provided by the National Land
Information Office in 1981 and height range provided by
the National Land Information Office in 1981 (Iwata
et al., 2011). Also, keywords that appeared more than
100 times in the written appeals for each nomination
were extracted using SPSS Text Analysis for Surveys 3.0
Japanese (SPSS Inc., 2007), and the relationship with thelandscape types was examined using cross analysis (χ2test; SPSS Inc., 2007; Iwata et al., 2011). In this research,
further analysis was conducted by extracting the words
that appeared more than ten times. This provided theauthors with more detailed insights into the values people
expressed in their written appeals. SPSS Text Analysis
for Surveys 3.0 Japanese (SPSS Inc., 2007) was used to
extract the words, and they were categorized into groups.
Nouns, verbs and adjectives were taken as useful words,
and those words that did not have useful meaning for thisstudy were ignored.
Based on the results obtained from the analysis of“The Top 100 Japanese Rural Landscapes,” we compiled
questionnaires to assess the cultural values provided by
the satoyama to people who were not particularly involved in satoyama movements. The questionnaires
included matters on 1) images of “rural life,” 2) double
residency in urban and countryside areas, and 3) “environment/organism brand” products. Internet researchcovering all prefectures of Japan was conducted throughMedia Interactive Co. Ltd., with 8,200 individuals
participating in February 2012. The ratio of male tofemale participants was 1:1, and the age distribution was
10-19 yrs (10%), 20-29 yrs (20%), 30-39 yrs (20%),40-49 yrs (20%), 50-59 yrs (20%) and 60-79 yrs (10%).
Attributes of individuals were also collected, including
profession, school, career, hobby, birthplace (agriculturalvillage, seashore village, urban or suburban), residential
address (prefecture; agricultural village, seashore village,
urban or suburban), household income, marital status,presence or absence of children, and presence or absenceof professional education on environment.
The narratives and questionnaire were organized andanalyzed in the Japanese language, so the English transla-

Cultural Values of the Satoyamation in this paper may have other nuances or a different
atmosphere from the original Japanese.

3. Results
3.1 “The Top 100 Japanese Rural Landscapes”
Among 4,474 nominations, the keywords mostclosely related to the forest type landscape (88% forest
cover over 1 km2) were beauty, traditional culture andhistory. Those most closely related to the mixed type
(60% forest, 20% paddy fields over 1 km2) were associated with biodiversity and preservation activities. Paddy
field type sites (paddy fields >60% over 1 km2) weresignificantly associated with furusato (the homeland),and urban & suburban type sites (50% built-up land)
were concentrated in the Kanto region, and they were
nominated mainly by local citizens for their naturerelated activities (Table 1).
The words used in the study were then categorized
into 50 groups, which were in turn divided among ninelarger groups. Table 2 shows the categories of words, thenumber of words in each category and the frequency of
their appearance.
Figure 1 is a graph of small groups of the words thatappeared more than ten times. It shows that words
categorized as “village/settlement” were the most frequently used. The next most common words were thosethat could be categorized as “geographical features,”“history,” “landscape” and “seasons.” Those categorized
as “mountains” and “water” were also often used.
Words categorized as “agricultural activity” and “rice155

production” were used as much as words categorized as“senses,” “tourism,” “people” and “living organisms.”
Figure 2 shows the ratio of the larger groups. It showsthat the most frequent word groups were “culture/
history” and “nature/geographical features,” and thesecond largest was “feeling and senses.”
It also shows the larger groups divided into ecosystemservices defined by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005). It shows that cultural services were mostprominent, accounting for 52% of the words used, followed by supporting services including natural factors,
which accounted for about 22%. Provisional services
related to resource management; and agricultural activities and biodiversity, including individual species names,
took up about 16% and 10%, respectively.
By using the landscape types defined in previous research (Iwata et al., 2011), the correlation between landscape type and cultural services was analyzed using χ2
test (SPSS Inc. 16.0 Japanese, 2007). In Table 3, thecategorized ecosystem services are shown in the rows,
and within each category, small groups of words appearing more than ten times correlated (P<5%) to each landscape type are shown.
As can be seen, there are many services that are correlated with the forest type landscape, whereas only social
circles, experiences and recreation were correlated withurban and suburban types. The mixed type was also
correlated with life, feelings and events; the paddy field
type was correlated with landscapes, sense of belonging
and seasons unique to Japan.

Table 1 Landscape types and their characteristics and keywords that appeared more than ten times.
Landscape type
ForestCharacteristics
Forest 88%
High altitude and steeply sloped areas

Mixed

Forest 52%, Paddy fields 19%
Other agricultural fields 10%
Mountain ridges, Yatsu
sloped lowlands
Paddy fields 62%, Built-up land 15%,
Forest 10%
Flat lowlands
Other agricultural fielda 49%
Forest 20%, Paddy Fields 11%
10 percent built-up land cover,Relatively high altitude and flatlands
Built-up land 58%, Forest 9%
Other agricultural fields 9%
Relatively flat lowlands
Ocean 80%, Forest 11%
Flat lowland due to near coastline

Paddy Field

Other
Agricultural

Urban andSuburban
CoastalKeywords appearing frequently for each type
Location & Settings, Residences, Rivers, Mountains,
Water, Spread, People, Local, Local residence,
Living, Visit, Past, Award for terraced paddies,
Epitome/Original image (Genkei), Heart, UniquePaddy Field, Satoyama
Biodiversity, Preserve, Award for terraced paddies

Spread, Homeland (Furusato), Paddy Field, Seasons,

Agricultural Fields

Residences, Forest, Green, Satoyama, Enjoy

Sea, Residences(Source: from Iwata et al., 2011)

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Table 2 Categorized words that appeared more than ten times in written phrases.
LargeGroupsLandscape

SmallGroupsView (82)Landscape(1329)
Seasons(1303)
Atmosphere(380)

Feeling/Senses

Feeling (275)
Senses(595)

Stories(208)
Sense of
Belonging(389)
Life (38)History(1265)

Culture/History

Tourism,/Recreation

Resource
management/
Preservation

Individual words used more than 10 times in each group( ) ; number of appearances
Vista (43), Sweeping View (39)
Scenery (547), Landscape (228), Authentic Landscape (131), Terraced Paddy Competition (124),
Cultural Landscape (75), Pastoral Landscape (75), Natural Landscape (28), Contrast (25), Rural
Scenery (25), Scene (17), Rural Landscape (16), Satoyama Landscape (15), Snowscape (13), Satoyama
Scenery (10)Seasons (247), Autumn (211), Spring (198), Summer (182), Winter (141), Autumn Leaves (81), Snow(62), Early Summer (41), Spring Shoots (39), Changing Seasons (17), Each Season (16), A Touch of
Spring (14), Layers of Snow (12), Summer Time (11), Eve of Winter (11), Early Spring (10), WinterTime (10)Rusticity (46), Style (44), Atmosphere (42), Distinct (41), Remnant (41), Taste (25), Appearance (24),Uniqueness (21), Individualistic (19), Expression (17), Character of the Locality (14), Secret Places(14), Image (12), Character (10), Climate (10)Heart (186), Feeling (41), Discovery (24), Moving (14), Spirit (10)Wind (51), Sound (37), Myriad (35), Sky (34), Sunset (33), Mummer (28), Color (24), Light (24),
Twitter (23), Fragrance (21), Stars (18), Chirp (17), Yellow (16), Morning (16), Morning Light (15),Night Sky (15), Song (14), Blanket of Clouds (14), Smell (14), Moon (13), The Heavens (12), Starry
Sky (12), Sun (12), Memory (12), Fascinate (11), Sensations (11), Innumerable Stars (11), Five Senses(11), Evening Time (11), Carpet (10), Picture (10), Body (10)Legend (38), Stage (22), Movie (19), Dream (15), Treasure (15), Memory (13), Evocative (12), Filming
Site (12), Story (11), Theme (11), Model (10), Manyoshu (Ancient Song Book) (10), Treasure (10), Folk
Story (10)Homeland (Furusato) (118), Culture (84), World (40), Japan (39), Home Town (33), Japanese (23),
Nostalgia (16), Origin (14), Japan's Most Famous (11), Proud of (11)Life (26), Born (12)Past (245), History (182), Since Then (111), Generation (185), Traditional (59), Ancestor (51),Inheritance (45), Folklore (36), Middle Ages (35), Ancient (28), Inheritance Site (26), Historic Site(24), Showa Period (24), Cultural Inheritance (22), Old Road (18), Vestige (16), Castle Remains (15),Modern (15), 300 Years (14), Warring State Period (13), Old (12), Traditional Culture (12), Thousandsof Years (12), Historical Culture (12), Kamakura Period (12), Heian Period (11), Jomon Period (10),Showa 30's (10), Period of Domain State (10)Culture (46)
Picture Letter (13), Custom (12), Traditional Art (11), Taste (10)Inheritance (63) Fortune (15), World Heritage (14), Important Cultural Heritage (12), Ancient Tomb (12), Remains (10)Religious
Shrine (45), Temple (31), Belief (27), Village Shrine (24), Grave Yard (15), Local God (13), Spiritual(185)
Site (11), Precinct (11), Invocation (11)Place names
Local Name (31), Name (24), Giving Name (14)(69)
Village
Home Village (Sato) (568), Local (501), Settlement (397), Village (135), Mountain Town (89), Village/ Settlement
Houses (81), Site of Streets (69), Stone Wall (48), Houses (48), Agricultural Village (45), Countryside(2523)(35), Small Settlement (31), Mountain Village (31), Homestead Woodland (29), Old Folk House (26),Roof (24), Row of Houses (23), Thatched Houses (21), Thatches (20), Home Village Site (Satochi)(19), Marginal Village (29), Boat (21), Inn Town (18), Livelihood Culture (16), Small Village (16),
Farming and Mountain Villages (15), Homestead (15), Storehouse (15), Station (15), White Walls (14),Village People (13), Old Home Towns (12), Family of Pedigree (11), Residential Building (11),Waterwheel (11), Town (11), Castle Town (10), Entire Village (10), Human Dwellings (10), Post Station(10)
FutureFuture (37), Succeeding Generations (27), Modern Times (25), After Then (23), Future Generation(157)(12), Descendent (12), Continuation (11), Successor (10)Time (89)Time (41), Year (24), This Year (24)
Hot Spring Site (75), Tourists (53), Symbol (51), Beauty Spot (37), Photograph (29), Tourist Site (25),Tourism(499)
Highlight (20), Tourism (20), Recreation Trail (19), Mountain Trail (17), Village for Firefly (15),Aesthetic Landscape (15), Upland (15), Museum (13), Viewing Platform (12), Course (11), Exhibition(11), Guide Sign (11), Guest House (10), Spot (10), Hot Spring Facilities (10), Hot Water (10), Forest
Road (10)Experience
Activity (133), Experience (49), Observation (30), Volunteer (26), Tree Planting (24), Biotope (19),/Recreation
Environmental Education (16), Environmental Learning (15), Nature Observation (13), Learning (12),(412)
Camp Site (12), Fishing (11), Field Study (11), Agricultural Experience (11), Camping (10), Participant(10), Education (10)Event/
100 Sato Contest (38), Village Scenery Contest (38), Festival (33), Important Satochi Satoyama
ContestSelected Site (31), Traditional Event (29), 100 Village Scenery (28), Event (28), Select 100 (17)(242)
Research (35) Examination (24), Research (11)Social Circle
Interaction (74), Cooperation (60), Participation (48), Relaxation (41), Together (29), Formation (24),(357)
Working Together (21), Coordination (16), Bond (12), Town Planning (12), Regional Planning (10),Regional Revitalization (10)Resource
Management (62), Rehabilitation (49), Hands On (45), Open Burning (26), Mowing (18), Cleaning
Management (17), Thinning (14), Work (14), Tree Trimming (13), Maintenance (11), Renovation (10), Burning (10)(289)
People (505)People (293), Children (149), Local People (24), Adults (15), Local Farmers (12), Old People (12)Preservation
Reservation (55), Preservation (45), Preservation Activity (35), Protected Activity (19)(154)
Revitalization Vitalization (39), Creating Sato (22), Reconstruction (10), Spread Information (10)(81)
Organization
Effort (40), Coexistence (30), Organization (22), Establishment (22), Development (20), Project (14),(264)
Continuous (14), Inauguration (13),Cultural Values of the Satoyama
LargeGroupsSmallGroupsExploitation(30)
Resource
utilization (105)
Application
Agriculturalactivity
(572)

157

Individual words used more than 10 times in each group( ) ; number of appearances
Propelling (13), Excises (13), Secure (12), Contribution (11),Support (10), Accomplishment (10), Planning (10), Sharing (10)Exploitation (19), Cultivation (11)Charcoal Burning (33), Resource (24), Charcoal (13), Firewood (12), Extraction (12), Sericulture (11)

Number of appearance

Application (68)
Agriculture (102), Plow Land (82), Cultivation (63), Production (47), Farmland (42), Area of
Production (34), Harvesting (34), Cultivation (31), Sales (21), Indigenous Product (17), Farming (17),Regular Vocation (14), Agricultural Production (13), Pesticide (12), Ranch (12), Cultivated Field (11),Crop (10), Non-Pesticide (10)Agriculturalactivities
Rice production Paddy Field (323), Reservoir (42), Channel (41), Rice Planting (39), Pastoral (36), Rice Cropping (34),(656)
Rice Ear (31), Growing Rice (21), Fallow Field (20), Pastoral Region (19), Paths by the Paddies (15),Harvesting Rice (15), Dike by the Paddies (10), Paddy Field Region (10)Agricultural
Agricultural Field (119), Terraced Fields (51), Fruit Farm (15)fields (185)Food in general Food (18), Cooking Ingredient (16), Food Culture (13), Seaweed (10), Green Horseradish (10)(67)
Vegetables (61) Vegetables (50), Sweet Potato (11)Food/Resources
Fruits (90)Apple (25), Orange (17), Japanese Persimmon (16), Sweet Chestnut (12), Fruits Trees (10), Grapes (10)GrainsRice (54), Soba Noodle Crop (51), Tea Tree (36), Koshihikari (Brand of Rice) (9), Soy (8), Straw (7),(141)
Wheat (6), Productiveness of Grain (6)Benefits (28) Benefit (16), Provision (12)Virgin nature Large Nature (27), Native (19), Untouched (18)(64)
Geographical Nature (650), Ground (183), Environment (119), Earth (18), Slope (49), Hill (39), Valley (31), Rocky
features (1351) Summit (30), Stone (26), Hillside (22), Canyon (21), Plane Land (21), Sloping Site (19), Basin (18),
Hillside Land (18), Summit (16), Rock (16), Perpendicular Slope (16), Plateau (13), Bank (13), Valley
Site (13)
Oceans (364) Ocean (154), Island (128), Coast (38), Coast Line (25), Set of Islands (19)Mountains
Mountain (344), Foot of Mountain (122), Mountain Range (112), Between Mountains (78), Mountain(815)
Forest (33), Top of Mountain (25), Mountain Ravines (24), Mountain Chain (20), Skirts of Mountain
Nature/(18), Filed Mountain (10), Between Mountains (10)Geographical
Water
Water (204), River (183), Fresh Stream (81), Stream (64), Pond (50), Water Fall (35), Headstream (34),features(872)
River (32), Spring (31), Headwaters (30), Waterfront (29), Lake (26), Branch Stream (24), Downstream(19), Freshwater (17), Bog (13)Forests (300) Green (134), Forest (131), Primary Forest (35)
Woodlands
Secondary Woodland (80), Trees (38), Woodland (38), Plantation (33), Bamboo Forest (26), Pine Forest(239)(14), Natural Forest (10)Trees
Giant Tree (26), Tree (26), Berry (21), Large Tree (18), Windbreak Forest (16), Broadleaf Tree (16), Old(135)
Tree (12)Grasslands (158) Grassland (63), Grass (32), Wetland (25), Highland (25), Wilderness (13)Parks (93)Park (35), Planting Ground (29), Row of Cherry Blossom Trees (19), Natural Park (10)LivingAnimals and Plants (229), Flower (141), Habitat (32), In Clumps (27), Mountain Grasses (21),Organisms
Vegetation (14), Wild Animals (14), High Mountain Vegetation (11), Grass and Trees (10), Flowers (10)(509)
Livingorganisms
Individual
Tree Species (478), Bacteria Species (28), Grass Species (224), Mammals (346), Birds (135),
species names Amphibians (66), Reptiles (14), Fish (210), Insects (396), Shells (10), Extinctions (81)(1974)

Fig. 1 Small groups of words that appeared more than 10 times.

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T. YUMOTO et al.

Fig. 2 Ratio of larger groups of words that appeared more than 10 times.

Cultural services categorized bywords appearing more than 10 time

Table 3 Correlations between landscape types and cultural services.

LandscapeLandscape Type (divided by cluster analysis, Iwata et al., 2010)
Other
Urban &
ForestMixed
Paddy
Agricultural
SuburbanLandscape, Views
LandscapeLandscapeFeeling/
SensesSense, Sense ofBelonging,
Feelings, Seasons,
Atmosphere

Culture/History
Tourism/Recreation

Heritage, Religion,
Place Name,
Culture, History
Event/Contest
Tourism

Agriculture

Rice Production

Life,
Feelings

Sense of
Belonging,
Seasons

Ocean

Feelings

History
Event/
ContestSatoyama
Activities

3.2 Questionnaire survey for people not involved in
Satoyama movements
3.2.1 Images of “rural life”
The first question was “Do you like rural areas?” Theratio of people who answered “Yes” was 27.9 %, and“Yes” and “Yes, mostly” accounted more than 80% of all
responses (Table 4). The ratio of males who answered“Yes” and “Yes, mostly” was 84.0% and that of females
was 75.3%. There was no significant difference among
age classes. The ratio who answered “Yes” and “Yes,mostly” was higher for individuals whose birth places
and present address were in agricultural villages/seashore
villages than those in urban/suburban areas.
The second question was “What do rural areas callmost to your mind? Choose four among: beautiful,nostalgic, lonesome, outmoded, joyful, precious, tasty,
safe, dangerous, inconvenient, dull, healing, to be pro-

Tourisms,
Circle ofPeopleRice
Production

Academic,Research

Social Circle,
Experience,
Recreation
Fisherytected, difficult, to be inherited, experiencing seasons,traditional, future, harmonious” The top five choices
were “nostalgic,” “beautiful,” “inconvenient,” “healing”
and “experiencing seasons” (Table 5). More than half of
the individuals answered “nostalgic” among their fourchoices. Males tended to answer “beautiful” as theirsecond choice, while females answered “inconvenient.”
In all age classes “nostalgic” was the top answer, and the
younger generation listed “beautiful,” “outmoded” and“traditional,” while the older generation listed “experiencing seasons.” Individuals who answered “No” or “No,
mostly” to the first question tended to call to mind thenegative images of “inconvenient,” “outmoded,” “lonesome” and “dull.” The most frequent answers to the question, “How do you want to be involved with rural areas?”
were “have contact with nature,” “be refreshed” and “gosightseeing,” but more than 10% of the individuals

Cultural Values of the Satoyama

159

Table 4 Preference for rural life, and gender and age of individuals who answered the questionnaires.

genderage

gender x age

Total
male
female
10-19
20-29
30-39
40-49
50-59
60-79
male, 10-19
male, 20-29
male, 30-39
male, 40-49
male, 50-59
male, 60-79
female, 10-19
female, 20-29
female, 30-39
female, 40-49
female, 50-59
female, 60-79

Sum
8200
4100
4100
833
1633
1634
1634
1633
833
416
817
817
817
816
417
417
816
817
817
817
416

Yes
27.9
32.1
23.7
31.6
31.4
26.9
26.0
25.2
28.3
31.7
31.6
30.4
33.0
32.7
34.3
31.4
31.3
23.5
19.0
17.7
22.4

Do you like rural areas?
Yes, mostly
No, mostly
51.7
17.2
51.9
13.4
51.6
21.0
48.5
16.9
50.1
15.9
52.0
17.6
53.6
17.2
51.9
19.4
53.7
15.2
50.0
14.9
49.8
16.4
52.4
13.5
52.6
12.5
52.6
12.0
54.0
10.8
47.0
18.9
50.4
15.3
51.5
21.8
54.6
21.9
51.3
26.7
53.4
19.7

No
3.1
2.5
3.7
3.0
2.6
3.5
3.2
3.5
2.8
3.4
2.2
3.8
1.8
2.7
1.0
2.6
3.1
3.2
4.5
4.3
4.6

Not answered
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0

Table 5 Image of rural life, and gender and age of individuals who answered the questionaries.
Total
gender male
female
age
10s
20s
30s
40s
50s
60s,70s

Sum
8200
4100
4100
833
1633
1634
1634
1633
833

Total
gender male
female
age
10s
20s
30s
40s
50s
60s,70s

8200
4100
4100
833
1633
1634
1634
1633
833

Sum

beautiful nostalgic lonesome outmoded joyful
precious
tasty
17.5
28.7
2.1
5.0
0.8
2.9
1.7
21.3
28.6
2.2
5.4
1.2
2.8
1.5
13.8
28.8
2.0
4.5
0.4
3.0
1.9
23.8
27.0
1.9
7.9
1.1
2.3
2.3
20.8
30.0
1.8
5.8
1.0
2.9
1.9
16.8
29.9
2.0
5.9
1.0
2.5
1.7
16.2
27.0
2.0
4.3
0.9
2.9
2.2
15.8
28.5
2.8
3.6
0.6
3.6
1.2
12.5
29.7
1.6
2.4
0.6
3.0
0.6
to be
to be
experiencing
traditionaldullhealingdifficultinheritedseasonsprotected
0.8
9.0
2.0
0.3
1.2
8.4
2.7
0.8
8.4
2.0
0.3
1.1
7.1
2.9
0.8
9.5
2.1
0.3
1.4
9.6
2.5
1.2
7.2
1.9
0.4
0.7
3.6
3.4
1.0
9.4
1.5
0.2
1.0
5.3
2.9
0.7
8.7
1.9
0.2
1.8
7.0
3.2
0.7
10.2
3.1
0.4
1.0
9.1
2.6
0.5
8.5
1.8
0.4
1.4
11.0
2.1
0.6
9.1
1.9
0.1
1.3
15.5
2.0

answered “no need to be involved.” Males answered,“settle in the future” and “work if a job is available” more
frequently than females did. Wherever they lived, themost and the second most frequent answers were “havecontact with nature” and “be refreshed,” but those who
lived in agricultural villages and seashore villages
answered more frequently “bring up children” and “settlenow.” More than 40% of individuals who answered“Yes” or “Yes, mostly” to the first question included“settle in the future” in their answer,” while about 75% of
those who answered “No” or “No, mostly” stated “noneed to be involved.”
To those who answered the previous question with“settle now” or “settle in the future,” we asked “What is
the main factor deterring you from settling in a rural
area?” The most frequent answer for males was “unable
to resign my contemporary job,” and for females, “inconvenient for shopping.” It is notable that individuals
over 60 years in age answered most frequently “anxious
about medical care.”

safe
1.9
1.9
1.8
1.8
1.7
2.5
1.6
1.9
1.6

dangerous
0.1
0.2
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1
0.2
0.1

inconvenient
12.0
9.2
14.8
11.0
10.8
11.6
13.6
13.0
11.2

futureharmonious

others

0.1
0.1
0.0
0.0
0.1
0.1
0.0
0.1
0.1

0.3
0.3
0.3
0.5
0.4
0.2
0.1
0.4
0.2

2.5
2.7
2.3
1.9
1.5
2.2
2.0
2.7
5.9

3.2.2 Double residency in urban and countrysideareas
The next question was “Are you interested in having asecond house in a rural area to spend weekends andholidays?” Those who answered “very interested” (5.3%)
and “interested” (21.6%) accounted for 26.9%, while
those who answered “not interested” accounted for
43.4%. More than half of the females answered “notinterested,” and the younger generations tended toanswer “not interested.” Among the present rural address
category, those who lived in seashore villages showed thehighest ratio of “very interested” and “interested”(together 33.6%). Those who answered “Yes” to thequestion “Do you like rural areas?” tended to answer“very interested” and “interested” (48.1% combined)
more than “not interested” (24.5%). As for those who
answered “Yes, mostly,” however, the ratio of theanswers “very interested” and “interested” was smaller
than that of “not interested.” More than 90% of individuals who answered “No” to the question “Do you like160

T. YUMOTO et al.

rural areas?” answered “not interested.” The higher classes of household income showed a weak correlation of
the higher ratio of the answers “very interested” and“interested.”Those who answered “very interested” and “interested” to the previous question were asked, “How much
would you be willing to pay for a second house in a rural
area?” The answers were divided into two: “less than
¥20,000” and “more than ¥20,000.” More than 90% of theanswers were “less than ¥50,000.” There was no significant difference between males and females. The younger
generation was willing to pay a higher price: half of theteenagers answered “more than ¥30,000.” The higher
classes of household income were willing to pay a higher
price, but the answer “more than ¥30,000” accounted for
only one third even of the class with “over ¥10 million
income.”Those who did not answer “not interested” and“already have” to the previous question were asked,“How far can you allow the second house to be from yourresidence?” More than 40% of the answers were “lessthan one hour by car” or “less than three hours by public
transport,” and only few answered “more than 3 hours.”
At the same time, they were asked, “How often do you
want to visit your second house?” More than 70%
answered at least every month: “every week” (12.5%),“every other week” (23.7%), “every month” (36.3%).
Men and the older age classes tended to desire more
frequent visits, and those who were “very interested” inhaving a second house answered “every week” (33.3%)
or “every other week” (62.1%).
The next question was, “If the government paid you
some additional income (a subsidy), would you think
more seriously about settling in a rural area?” More than
40% of the answers were “Yes, very much,” “Yes” or“More or less.” Almost half of the individuals answered,“Cannot say either yes nor no.” Males tended to answer
more positively than females did, and there was no correlation with age classes. As for those who were “veryinterested” in having a second house, the answer “Yes,very much” exceeded 40% and more than 80% answered
positively, including “Yes, very much,” “Yes” or “Moreor less.” There was no correlation with household income
nor age class. To the question “How much would you
expect as additional income (a subsidy) from thegovernment?” the answers were divided into two: “lessthan ¥50,000” and “more than ¥50,000.” More than aquarter answered, “more than ¥200,000.” There was nodifference between males and females, but more than
60% of the individuals belonging to the age classes of“40-49 yrs old” and “50-59 yrs old” expected “more than¥100,000.” The higher classes of household income
tended to expect more money, but the difference was notlarge.
To the question, “If very cheap or free accommodation were provided, would you think more seriously
about settling in a rural area?” 49.6 % of individuals
answered “Yes, very much,” “Yes” or “More or less.”
This ratio was slightly higher than that to the previous

question in the case of providing a subsidy (42.9%).
There was no difference between males and females, but
the younger generations tended to answer more positively.
As for those who were “very interested” in having asecond house, the answer “Yes, very much” exceeded
40% and almost 90% answered positively including “Yes,very much,” “Yes” or “More or less.” There was almost
no difference among household income classes.
3.2.3 “Environment/Organism Brand” Products
The next series of questionnaires was on “environment/organism brand products. Positive answers to thequestion, “Do you know about “environment/organism
brand” products?” accounted for 20.9%. There was nodifference between males and females. As for age classes,
the “60-69 yrs old” class showed the highest ratio(30.6%) and those “20-29 yrs old” showed the lowest(17.1%) rates of positive responses. There was great
difference in recognition among educational levels:
the ratio of those who answered “Yes” was highest
among those who had majored in environmental issues(150 individuals) (42.7%), and second among those who
did not major in it but had learnt about environmental
issues (2050 individuals) (31.9%). The ratio of “Yes”
responses was lowest among those who had not learnt
about environmental issues (6,000 individuals; 16.6%).
The next question was, “What values do you expect from“environment/organism brand” products?” The answers
were: “Desirable for the environment” (67.7%), “Safe formy family’s health” (51.0 %), and “Conserving endangered organisms” (36.3%). Among age classes, the older
generation tended to answer more frequently “Desirable
for the environment,” while the younger generations
answered more frequently “Safe for my family’s health.”
Those who knew about “environment/organism-brand”
products gave more positive answers, with an especiallygreater difference found among those answering positively “Safe for my family’s health.” As an answer to thequestion, “How much would you be willing to pay as apremium for “environment/organism-brand” products?”
the ratio saying “not willing to pay extra money” wasabout 30%. Many individuals indicated they would pay
extra money, but fewer would pay a “greater than 20%
premium.” However, those who answered, “if it isvaluable, I will buy it regardless of price” accounted for
14.1%.

4. Discussion
The results from the first dataset, “The Top 100 Japanese Rural Landscapes,” showed that Japanese rurallandscapes, known as “satoyama,” have a great culturalvalue related to tradition and history. Many people feel asense of “homeland” or belonging concerning paddy
fields, villages and people’s old settlements. At the sametime, villages surrounded by nature give them a sense of
seasons, time and the presence of other living organisms.
These are services that the urban landscape cannot offer.
The results from the second dataset, “questionnaires

Cultural Values of the Satoyama

to people who are not particularly involved in satoyama
movements,” also demonstrated the image of the rurallandscape as having nature, mountains, rivers, forests, thehomeland and a place for relaxation. Both German andJapanese groups place value on secondary forests as “thehomeland” (Kohsaka & Handoh, 2006). At the same time,
the survey revealed that 10% of people feel that theywould like to live in rural areas in the future. This
becomes clearer by looking at the reasons they cannot
live there. In the majority of cases where people feelunable to live there, they are hindered by jobs, money andother practicalities such as access to shopping facilities or
doctors. Most people living in urban areas do not think oftrying agriculture unless their family is doing it, so people cannot connect to the idea of themselves working inrural areas. Not knowing anybody in rural areas also
makes them hesitant to move there. However, the potential remains that people would like to make such a movewere these factors overcome.
As for “environment/organism-brand” products, 70%
of individuals considered the additional value of “environment/organism-brand” products to be ca. 10-20%, it
is noteworthy that those who answered “if it is valuable, I
will buy it regardless of price” accounted for 14.1%. As
many people are not be interested in living in rural areas,paying extra money for “environment/organism brands”
among urban people may be considered PES to promotemonetary contribution to the satoyama.
Therefore, the conclusions from this study to create a
new “commons” are as follows:
1) Beautiful landscapes that provide a sense of nature,
history, culture, feeling, traditionality or uniquenessare required in order to encourage people to visit rural
areas.
2) A sense of belonging, seasons, events, tourism, acircle of people, satoyama activities, and social
interaction are required in order to motivate people toget involved in rural areas.
3) Jobs such as “attractive agriculture,” the renewableenergy sector or ”telecommuting” to offices using theInternet, along with social interaction are required if
we want people to live there or to consider double
residency in urban and rural areas.
4) Paying extra-money for “environment/organismbrands” among urban people can be thought as PES
to promote monetary contribution to the satoyama.

Acknowledgements
This research was partly supported by the Environment Research and Technology Development Fund,
E-0902 “Ecosystem Services Assessment of Satoyama,
Satochi and Satoumi to Identify New Commons for
Nature-Harmonious Society” (Project Leader: Masataka
WATANABE).

161

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Takakazu YUMOTO
Takakazu YUMOTO was born in 1959. He graduated from the Faculty of Science, Kyoto
University, in 1982, and obtained his PhD in
Botany from the Graduate School of Science,
Kyoto University, in 1987, majoring in Plant
Ecology, especially the interaction between plants
and animals (pollination, seed dispersal, ant-plants) in the tropics (DRCand Congo in Africa, Colombia in South America, and Malaysia andThailand in Southeast Asia). He is currently a Professor of the Ecology andConservation Section, Department of Ecology and Social Behavior,Primate Research Institute, Kyoto University. Prof. Yumoto organized aproject titled, “A new historical and cultural exploration into human-nature
relations in the Japanese Archipelago” at the Research Institute for
Humanity and Nature, Kyoto. He transferred to the Primate ResearchInstitute in 2012, and began a comparative study on the relationshipbetween primate communities and vegetation in Asia and Africa.

Yuuki BLAKENEY (IWATA)
Yuuki BLAKENEY (IWATA) was born in 1982. In2006 she graduated from the Geography
Department in the Faculty of Science, Universityof Dublin, Trinity College. She then obtained her
Master’s Degree from the Graduate School of
Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto University,
in 2009. Her major was Landscape Ecology and she had a particularinterest in the cultural services of satoyama and satoumi landscapes. She
has also worked as an environmental consultant for Asia Air Survey Co.,
Ltd., from 2009-2012, where she was involved in making regional
environmental plans and vegetation maps as well as participating in several
international projects, including a forest survey in Malawi and the World
Water Forum.

Yukihiro MORIMOTO
Yukihiro MORIMOTO was born in 1948. He
graduated from the Faculty of Agriculture, Kyoto
University, in 1970. He obtained his PhD in
Agriculture from Kyoto University in 1985,
majoring in Landscape Ecology and LandscapePlanning, especially nature conservation andrestoration of disturbed areas. Currently, he is a Professor at the Laboratoryof Urban Ecology, Faculty of Bio-Environmental Design, Kyoto Gakuen
University as well as President of the International Consortium ofLandscape and Ecological Engineering, and an advisory board member of
URBIO (an open worldwide scientific network for education and researchwith the aim of promoting urban biodiversity through a continuing
dialogue with the CBD (Convention on Biological Diversity) Global
Partnership on “Cities and Biodiversity”). He has been a member of many
councils such as the Central Environment Council and the Council of
Cultural Affairs of the Japanese Goverment, and the Landscape Amenity
Council of Kyoto City. He was formerly President of the Japan Association
for Landscape Ecology and the Japanese Society of Revegetation
Technology.

(Received 7 May 2012, Accepted 1 August 2012)