The Future of Rural Societies and Landscapes in East Asia
Exploratory Workshop
RIHN-Initiative for Chinese Environmental Issues,
Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN)

25 July, 2014
Seminar Hall, RIHN

0900-0910

Opening Remarks

0910-0920

Explanation of the aim of this workshop

Session 1

Tetsuzo YASUNARI (RIHN)
Hein MALLEE (RIHN)

Comparative Study of Rural Societies in East Asia
Chair: Hein MALLEE

0920-0950 Social Construction of the Rural in Contemporary Japan and Korea
Motoki AKITSU (Kyoto Univ.)
Masako ICHINOMIYA (Kyoto Univ.)
0950-1020 Social and Landscape Change in Rural China in Recent 30 Years
Weihong ZHOU (Beijing Foreign Studies Univ.)
1020-1050 Major Causes and Consequences of Socio-Economic Change in Rural Korea
Since 1980s
Jung-Sup CHOI (Mokpo National Univ./ RIHN)
1050-1120 Discussion
1120-1130 BreakSession 2

Rural Family and Society
Chair: Steven McGreevy (RIHN)

1130-1200 Change of Rural Society and Influence on Rural Environment in Japan after WWII
Tokuya KAWATE (Nihon Univ.)
1200-1230 Changing Rural Urban Demographics: Migration and Urbanization in China
Xizhe PENG (Fudan Univ.)
1230-1330 Lunch
1330-1350 Disucussion
1/9Session 3Landscapes and Agriculture
Chair: Jumpei KUBOTA (RIHN)

1350-1420 Multi-level Natural Resources Governance Based on Local Community: A Case Studyon Semi-natural Grassland in Taroji, Nara, Japan
Daisaku SHIMADA (Fukuoka Women’s Univ.)
1420-1450 The Evolution of Rice Farms in Korea
Taeho LEE (Seoul National Univ.)
1450-1520 Smallholder Farming Practices and Their Impact on Environment in Rural China
Ting ZUO (China Agriculture Univ.)
1520-1550 Discussion

1550-1610

break

1610-1650

General Discussion

1650-1700

Closing Remarks

1700-Chair: Hein MALLEE

Jumpei KUBOTA

Konshinkai party (at RIHN Dining Hall)

Contact Information:
Yuki FUKUSHI
RIHN-Initiative for Chinese Environmental Issues,
Research Institute for Humanity and Nature
Tel: 81-75-707-2216

Fax: 91-75-707-2513

rihn-china@chikyu.ac.jp / fuku@chikyu.ac.jp

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The Future of Rural Societies and Landscapes in East Asia
Exploratory Workshop

Rural Societies in East Asia have gone through tremendous change during the late 20 thand early 21st centuries. Large-scale population shifts have made Japan and Korea
largely urban-based and in China the urban population has passed the 50 percent mark.
The share of agricultural production in GDP has dwindled in all three countries. Thisurban transition has had a profound impact on rural families, communities, livelihoods,
regional economies and the way people relate to and engage with agricultural andnatural resources and “nature”. In Japan and Korea, family agriculture has lost much ofits former vitality as farm households have become smaller and older. Rural communities
have lost population on a dramatic scale and many are “on the brink” of disappearing.
While in China rural population ageing may not be as advanced, rapid and large-scale
rural-urban migration has similarly led to change in household and community
composition and concern has risen about “hollow villages (空心村). Rural production
landscapes are changing apace: Japan struggles with the problem of “underuse” of forest
resources, which in China government initiatives such as the Grain for Green (退耕还林)Program have returned extensive areas of cropland to plantation forest. It is likely, butless well-documented, that many farmers have switched to less intensive forms ofagricultural production. Parts of the countryside not intensively used for farming aredesignated as “nature” in the form of National Parks, protected areas, heritage sites, etc.
At a more conceptual level, visions of rurality underlying many policy debates and public
discussion have also shifted.
This workshop aims to explore the interrelationships among these demographic, social,economic and physical landscape transformations from comparative in China, Japan andKorea and to contribute to the development of a conceptual/research framework forfurther study.

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Abstract
Social Construction of the Rural in Contemporary Japan and Korea
Motoki AKITSU (Kyoto University)
Masako ICHINOMIYA (Kyoto University)
Up to two decades ago ‘農村（농촌）’, rural village or countryside, had been defined as
the place for agricultural production and the place where farming families live. However,
the word has changed its meaning substantially in Japan since the 1990s, because thegreat majority of those who lived in rural area no longer made a living from farming. Incontrast, urban dwellers losing their roots as peasants yearned for their “ideal home” inrural areas. Various media such as TV programs, journals and books not only wanted tocatch this public need, but also created and/or promoted the image of the rural. Rural
policies by national and local governments utilized the urban gaze to the rural as well.
In the 1990s, farmers suffered from a price decline for farm produce, chiefly in rice, which
resulted in decline and aging of the farming population, and deterioration of social andeconomic potential in rural area. The governments set out new rural policies thatencouraged rural tourism, processing businesses of local foods and farmer’s markets inorder to restore rural economies. All of these targets are based more or less on theconsumption of the rural as a unique space. In this presentation, we explain thetransition process of the definition of the rural in Japan generally, and then focus on one
kind of media representing the rural image, ‘漫画（만화）’, cartoon. Though the data about
Korean comics is limited, similarity and difference of rural image between Japan andKorea will be drawn from comparing comics from both countries.

Social and Landscape Change in Rural China in Recent 30 Years
Weihong ZHOU (Beijing Foreign Studies University)
My main research in the past, focused on the comparison of social change in rural Chinaand Japan, and the major methods I used to resolve the social change in rural society arefrom the following three major level: economic structure change in rural areas, the rural
economic organization transformation and agricultural concept itself changes. Thesestudies have been published mainly in the last three books: On Rural Industrialization
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―See China from Japan (2008); A Comparative Study of Rural Economic Organizations
between Japanese and China (1997); and A Comparative Study of Asian Urban
Agriculture (2011). This report will be mainly based on these results, to summarizechanges in the economic structure, economic organization and development of the urbanagriculture in the rural China of the last three decades, the last will mention changes in
China’s rural landscape simply. This report consists of four parts: 1. economic structuralchange in rural China in recent 30 years; 2. social organizational change in rural China
in recent 30 years; 3. the development of Chinese urban agriculture; 4. landscape changes
in China’s rural in recent 30 years. Because of personal and professional fields, I will also
make a simple comparison between China and Japan in each section of the report.

Major Causes and Consequences of Socio-Economic
Change in Rural Korea since the 1980s
Jung-Sup CHOI (Mokpo National University / RIHN)
The annual gross product of Korean agriculture reached 44.3 trillion won in 2012. In thesame year, the annual gross product of the largest Korean company, Samsung Electronics,
was valued at 201.1 trillion won. The product of one conglomerate company was over fourtimes larger than the total value of product generated by over one million units of family
farm. In Korea, as with other Northeast Asian countries, there is a severe gap between
urban and rural regions and also between non-agricultural and agricultural sectors.
Even since Korea started pursuing an export-oriented economic development strategy,
unbalanced growth and urban-rural gaps have widened. Educated youth continue
migrating into the cities. Rural area, as a consequence, are emptying out and theremaining residents keep aging as time passes. Massive chemical inputs andmechanization boosted agricultural productivity, though not enough to maintain areasonable level of food self-sufficiency. Within agriculture, at the same time, asignificant bipolarization is proceeding between large- and small-scale farms and also
between crop and livestock farming.
The main objective of this paper is to describe the change in Korean agriculture and ruralarea during the recent course of rapid economic growth. The causes and consequences of
the changes will also be analyzed logically. More specifically, the impacts of free tradeand market opening on small-scale family farm will be investigated. This will hopefully
serve as a point of reference for comparative studies with China and Japan.

5/9Change of Rural Society and Influence on Rural Environment in Japanafter World War II
Tokuya KAWATE (Nihon University)
Japanese traditional farm households which is called “Ie” has played central role inagriculture and preservation of rural regional resources in Japan. The basic farming
community which is called “Mura” has been conceived and governed as “Ie” coalition.
But “Ie” and “Mura” changed greatly after World War II, especially since rapid economic
growth in Japan from 1955 to 1974. During this period, agriculture and lifestyle, humanrelationship of farm household were “modernized” in a clearly visible way. And part-time
farmers increased and full-time farmers decreased notably while the number of farmers
decreased dramatically. Part-time farmers who mainly earned their living from non-farm
sector became overwhelming majority. Regarding farming community “Mura”, growing
heterogeneity of rural residents can be enumerated. Recently about 90% of residents offarming community are non-farm households, although its landscape still remain “rural”.
Consequently, (1) “modernization of agriculture”, especially use of an insecticide, a weed
killer and a chemical fertilizer and “improvement” of agricultural infrastructure such as
water canal, (2) shift away from farming by majority of rural residents caused to fall
the management level of rural regional resources and to reduce multiple function ofagriculture, including biodiversity derived from “Satoyoma”.
It is necessary to establish sustainable agriculture and to promote to revive and preserve
multiple functions of agriculture, while urging participation of non-farm households andcity residents. For that purpose, we should change our recognition about agriculture, thatis to say, “Agriculture can produce not only food but also other various valuables whichgive us a big benefit.”

Changing Rural Urban Demographics: Migration and Urbanization in China
Xizhe PENG (Fudan University)
China has experienced an unprecedented migration and urbanization over the past threedecades. More than 200 million rural-urban migrants are currently living and working
in China’s cities, accounting for almost one third of China’s urban long-term residents.
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Migration and urbanization have reshaped China’s demographic map, and have hadsignificant impacts on China’s overall socioeconomic development. The major
destinations of the migration are eastern coastal regions, particularly the three mega
city groups: Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta and Jing-jin-ji city belt. The major
sending area are those central and inland provinces. Chinese population on the whole ismore concentrated towards the eastern coastal areas.
The rapid increase of China’s official urban population can be attributed to natural
growth of urban population (10.54 per cent), rural-urban migration (65.35 per cent), andadministrative change of rural-urban boundaries (24.1 per cent).
While Chinese cities are heavily replying on rural migrants as the major source of laborforce, the countryside are facing serious short supply of young laborers. This trend also
affects the regional and rural-urban aging process and will have significant impacts on
China’s social security reforms.

Multi-level Natural Resources Governance Based on Local Community:
A Case Study on Semi-natural Grassland in Tarōji, Nara, Japan
Daisaku SHIMADA (Fukuoka Women’s University)
Japan is facing a biodiversity crisis as a result of rapid industrialization. The Japanese
Ministry of the Environment formulated a National Biodiversity Strategy based on theConvention on Biological Diversity signed at the Earth Summit in 1992. After anamendment in 2002, the National Biodiversity Strategy addressed three kinds of crises
in biodiversity: over exploitation and development that destroys habitat,underutilization (the satoyama problem), and artificially introduced factors (chemicals,alien species and so on). This paper focuses on the second problem.
Secondary natural environments that we call satoyama have been created andmaintained over the centuries by human activity. Because natural environment in Japan
have been affected by human-induced disturbance for 35,000 years, many species haveevolved in response to this disturbance from humans. If this human activity comes to anend, many of species that have evolved so they can survive in these managed
environments become threatened.
Most satoyama have been managed as commonage or common lands, which we call iriai
in Japan. One natural resource system created by commoners is semi-natural grassland,and economic modernization has led to the abandonment of traditional managementpractices on these grasslands, one of the more evident change in Japanese iriai practices.
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Before industrialization, semi-natural grasslands were managed as a source of green
mature, harvesting of roofing materials (thatch), and as pasture for animals. Afterindustrialization, however, the introduction of chemical fertilizers, changes in building
practices, and the importation of animal feeds rapidly decreased the use value of thesegrasslands for the local residents. On the other hand, their value as public goods – ashistorical and cultural landscapes and places of biodiversity – which concern a muchbroader population than the local community, became relatively more important. The
resulting problem is how to manage this resource with its new value for beneficiaries.
This paper examines the multi-level management of a semi-natural grassland at Tarōji,in Soni, in Nara prefecture. In Soni, members of the local community provide the key
management input, while local government at the village and prefecture level share themanagement costs.

The Evolution of Rice Farms in Korea
Taeho LEE (Seoul National University)
Rice is not so a competitive crop in Korea. Yet it has survived the compact
industrialization and the rapid trade liberalization over 60 years. Certainly rice is thestaple grain for Korean people and it has been under intensive care. Even so, sometimes
it makes people wonder how it still can maintain the status of major crop through somany difficulties such as the aging of farmers, the increase of MMA import, the reductionof demand, just to name a few. Some say that it is because the government helped thefarmers, the others say it is because the farmers adapted to the changing environments.
In this presentation, we will try figure out the nature of its success (or failure?) by looking
into the evolution of rice farms in Korea.
<Tentative Contents>
1. Introduction
2. Korean Agriculture before the Trade Liberalization
A. Pre-industrialization Period: before 1962
B. Take-off Period: 1962-1976
C. Transition Period: 1977-1993
3. The Evolution of Rice Farms after the Trade Liberalization: 1994A. Rice Policies
B. Indirect Farming
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i. Farming by Fields
ii. Farming by Outsourcing
C. Bipolarizationi. Non-farm Income for Small Farms
ii. Direct Payment for Big Farms
4. Visions and Directions

Smallholder Farming Practices and Their Impact on Environment in Rural China
Ting ZUO (China Agricultural University)
Dominant agricultural farms are still operated by peasant householders under thecollective ownership. In average, a smallholder farm has 3.9 affiliated family population,
2.8 laborers (including 2 half-laborers). Such farm has about 9 mu (or 0.6 hectare)cultivated land, half of which can be irrigated. In terms of income sources, roughly, 50%of the income comes from farm products, 30% from labor wage, 10% from non-farmbusiness, and 10% from transfer and assets. The practices of smallholder farming are
more harmonizing with their embedded agro-ecosystem. However, it is now facing moreenvironmental constraints and challenges in the process of agricultural modernization.
Traditional smallholder farming was labor intensive with a lot of crop and land caresfrom peasant families, e.g. agroforestry, intercropping, organic farming, multi-purpose
farming, etc.. Due to various reasons, labor input were substituted by chemical inputs.
Different from Mao’s agriculture expansion strategies in 1950-1970, to cope with thedecrease of arable land, intensification (in both landscape scale and micro-scale) becomea policy preference, e.g. the identification of Main Grain Production Area, Concentrated
Livestock Plots and the subsidized greenhouse technology. Overuse of land resulted inboth visible change of underground water and surface water pollution and invisible
change of land degradation. Agricultural specialization, mono-plantation and scaleenlargement, which seems an inevitable choice for many local decision-makers andsmallholders to meet the market competition, has caused agro-ecosystem degradation(e.g. soil erosion, loss of agro-biodiversity, loss of indigenous species, etc.).
Although China’s smallholder farming system is famous for its endurance and resilience,
those related environmental issues must be addressed. The overall agriculture policy
should be set on the safety of agro-ecosystem. Policy priorities and preferences should bereviewed and be more supportive to smallholder farms.

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