My Stay In Japan

My name is Tariro Mandisodza, an Engineer at the Department of Irrigation and I participated in the KCCP course, Participatory Irrigation Management System for Paddies (A) from May 12 to June 26 in Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan. My stay in Japan was fascinating, in particular experiencing the cultures, beliefs, food, leisure and of course the vastly land exploitation through intense agriculture activities.

Japan is an island country in East of Asia. It is located in the northwest Pacific Ocean, where it is bordered on the west by Sea of Japan, Philippine, and Taiwan in the south. It is a country where harmony, mutual respect and group consensus are valued. On its religion, there are two dominant, namely Shinto and Buddhism. Japanese people traditionally go to both Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, so in a sense they are both. Interestingly, they don’t believe in one god meaning there are plenty of gods with different tasks, for example god of water etc.

An example of some of the most fascinating beliefs and concepts in Japan are:

• Mottai Nai: Nothing should be wasted; nothing should be thrown away.
• Mono-no-aware: It is the reality of life that beautiful things in our lives do not last forever.
• Omote nashi: Serve your guests from the heart.

It was a pleasure to experience what nature has to offer in Hokkaido. Furano’s flowers fields, bursting in vivid colour, are the cherry on top of Hokkaido’s spectacular natural offerings. Lavender, German irises, pansies and columbine simultaneously bloom every year.
As one enjoys the serene nature, one cannot help but to also enjoy Hokkaido twist on Japan’s adaptation of Indian food. Soup curry is a hearty and flavourful dish that is made with a rich curry broth, vegetables, and meat or seafood. It is a popular comfort food in Hokkaido, and it is said to have originated in Sapporo in the 1960s.

The pinnacle of my stay was how rich the training was and getting to learn from Japan’s experience. Irrigation systems in Japan are classified into river, pond, lake, groundwater, torrent, and rarely other systems, of which river irrigation systems and pond irrigation systems are the dominant. Interestingly in Japan there is only one season because of snow. The main agricultural crops are rice paddies, wheat, soybeans, and barley. Rice paddies occupy most of the countryside, whether on the alluvial plains, the terraced slopes, or wetlands and coastal bays. Non-paddy farmland shares the terrace and lower slopes and are planted with wheat and barley in the autumn and dry rice in the summer.

In conclusion, Japan is a wealthy country in its diversity, activities, and beliefs, and I am glad I got to embrace the experiences that my stay brought my way.