INTERVIEW | Satoyama Champion Mitsuhiko Imamori Takes To the Plow

Nature photographer Mitsuhiko Imamori has spent over four decades capturing beautiful scenes and landscapes of "satoyama" in his home near Lake Biwa. Through his work, he has helped spread the concept of satoyama — the natural environment in rural farming areas where people and living creatures exist in harmony.

Imamori has popularized the term satoyama through his photographs and writings and by restoring satoyama environments. Before him, the term was used among experts, mainly in forest ecology circles.

Disappearing Landscapes

In 2008, Imamori began a new project to photograph similar satoyama landscapes in other parts of the country. He visited more than 200 locations from Hokkaido to Okinawa to research and record fast-disappearing satoyama landscapes.

Over the past dozen or so years, he found so many satoyama in Japan — far more than he had expected. "I feel keenly that the Japanese archipelago is made up of a series of highly individual satoyama landscapes linked together," he confided.

The recent three-month-long photo exhibition, "Satoyama: Harmony with Nature and Resilience in Japan," was held at the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum. It showcased more than 190 selected photos Imamori took during the project.

These photos capture moments of people living and working in harmony with animals and insects within beautiful satoyama landscapes. This was one of his largest exhibitions, offering a comprehensive view of satoyama environments across Japan.

As Imamori explained, the Japan-wide satoyama project began with the aim to "encounter as many satoyama as possible" and gain a broader perspective. This project runs alongside his primary work of "delving deeply into a single location" in the Lake Biwa area of Shiga Prefecture. Exploring satoyama across Japan provides deeper insight into those near Lake Biwa, he felt.

*Red Helen (Papilio Helenus) visiting red spider lilies, Akitakata, Hiroshima Prefecture 2020 ©Mitsuhiko Imamori*

From Photography to Farming

A major turning point came nine years ago when Imamori officially became a registered farmer, qualifying him to own farmland. This allowed him to "enter inside the satoyama environment" after spending four decades photographing it from the outside. He purchased 3 hectares (7.4 acres) of abandoned farmland in the hills above Lake Biwa, with plans to restore it as a satoyama environment.

Imamori first faced the challenge of clearing large bamboo thickets that had overrun the land during 45 years of neglect. With help from his close full-time farmer friend and other farming neighbors, he restored the area into usable farmland.

Through several years of hard work, Imamori has successfully restored the satoyama environment. It includes tanada terraced rice fields, an irrigation pond, and a stream running through the fields. Kunugi oak trees now line the rice paddy pathways, where just-harvested rice sheaves are dried, with the expansive Hira Mountains forming a stunning backdrop. After decades, he had finally managed to restore the long-absent landscape of his childhood.

Imamori re-created a copse of deciduous broad-leaf trees, including acorn-producing oaks. Additionally, he planted rapeseed in the fields to attract butterflies, insects, birds, and animals — key inhabitants of satoyama spaces.

"I've long wanted to bring this landscape back," Imamori revealed. "Restoring it has been one of my main objectives since I started the project. My farmer friend and neighbors were overjoyed to see the Hira Mountains from the bank of my satoyama for the first time in 45 years. Their happiness meant a lot to me."

Environmental Farmer

On this farmland, Imamori grows crops and vegetables without agrichemicals. He describes himself as an "environmental farmer" — a term he coined. This reflects his farming style, which prioritizes ecology and biodiversity over crop yield.

"Because my farming method emphasizes the well-being of living things, full-time farmers in my neighborhood often think I'm just playing at farming." Indeed, Imamori's harvest from his farm is very low — too small to sell on the market. However, he says, "It is just enough to sustain my family. Instead, there are many byproducts. I can encounter small creatures up close. It's really wonderful," he shares.

Imamori chose the name Aurelian Hill for this farmland, following his first, smaller quasi-satoyama area. Over 30 years ago, he created a studio there, which he called Aurelian Garden. In spring, Imamori moved to another farmland near Aurelian Garden and has been living there since.

In an interview with JAPAN Forward, we asked Imamori what inspired him to become a professional farmer. We also inquired about his drive to push the satoyama restoration project so vigorously. "Because I'm a photographer," he replied.

"All these years, I have pursued satoyama as the subject of my photography, yet they're still full of mystery to me," Imamori revealed. "As a photographer, I've always wanted to understand them thoroughly when I shoot them. Becoming a farmer was my last resort to truly immerse myself in the satoyama space and view it from the inside."

Inside the Satoyama Microcosm

However, he explained, once you enter the satoyama world — what he calls the "microcosm of satoyama" — you become too close to it. You can no longer see it objectively.

"If you cannot see things objectively, you cannot photograph them," Imamori said. "Photography is somewhat like journalism, and photographers must maintain objectivity to do their job professionally. Therefore, I am now inside the microcosm without my camera," he explained. "Since becoming a farmer six years ago, I haven't used a camera."

Nevertheless, he says he wants to come out of the microcosm someday and take up photography again.

"I don't know what photographs I can take when I come out of it," Imamori mused. "One thing I'm sure of is that my sense of beauty is not the same as before entering the satoyama microcosm. My photos should be different after seeing inside it. I'm very curious about what kind of photos I'll be able to take."

Insects Classroom for Kids

For several years, he has held annual nature observation sessions called the Satoyama Insect Classroom every summer. During these sessions, children observe butterflies and a wide variety of insects that inhabit Aurelian Hill. Nearly 100 young children, accompanied by their parents, attend the popular event from across the country each summer. They spend a few days watching, touching, and, in some cases, catching insects themselves.

"Aurelian Hill is a great place for kids to observe insects and feel nature," Imamori stated. "I've long wanted to create a place like this, where you can smell the fertile soil without much agrichemicals. That smell promises encounters with living beings. When I was a small child, I could find and smell it everywhere near my home."

He added, "I can tell my satoyama project is a success when I see these children's happy faces."

Imamori started the insect classroom, he says, with the hope of providing children the chance to experience natural environments. These are the same types of environments he enjoyed abundantly during his childhood in areas around Lake Biwa.

Nutrition for the Senses

Although it is called an insect classroom, Imamori stresses that the real purpose is to give children a place to experience the natural environment insects inhabit. It is not just about watching insects and learning their names.

"This is something that cannot be taught in school because it's something you feel and sense," Imamori emphasized. "I call these experiences ‘nutrition for the senses,' like the sense of wonder you feel when you see or experience something in nature. This is important because children remember these experiences, and those senses stay with them for a long time."

He also remarked, "When they grow up, that memory will help them understand the environment better."

(Read the related article in Japanese.)

Author: Yoshikazu Ishizuka