In Japan, a movement to link farming with social services, specifically services for people with disabilities, has been growing. In farm-welfare collaborations (農福連携), group homes and other services that support people with disabilities are starting their own farming businesses, and/or contracting to work on area farms. This gives individuals who may not otherwise be able to find employment in Japan a job and sense of purpose. It also helps farmers fill staffing shortages, often at lower rates. Tsubasa, a group home and support service in the town of Noto-cho, a rural town in in the Noto Peninsula of Ishikawa, engages in farm-welfare collaborations. Below, I share part of the conversation I had with Hiroaki Imai-san, the coordinator for the Musubia, the division of Tsubasa that focuses primarily on growing and processing food grown through natural cultivation.
Around 10 years ago, Imai-san was carrying serious doubts about the work that he was doing as a care worker, managing people with mental and physical disabilities who did farming and food processing at Tsubasa. The farming he did with the members was organic; they didn’t spray for weeds or pests. However, what he was finding was that the weeds never went away. They’d cut them only to have them grow back again.
This isn’t interesting. What is the meaning of this work? he wondered.
Just as he was harboring these doubts The Miracle Apple, a book by Akinori Kimura, father of natural cultivation, fell into his hands, and shortly thereafter, he learned that Kimura himself would be hosting a course on natural cultivation in the neighboring city. Imai-san had missed the deadline to register but somehow managed to join late, becoming part of the first cohort to graduate from Hakui’s natural cultivation academy. Soon after, he became a member of the organization Shizen Saibai Party (or Natural Cultivation Party), a national network of people and organizations who support people with disabilities who grow food using Kimura’s growing methods.
As Imai-san learned, one of the tenants of natural cultivation is that excess doesn’t exist. All parts of farming system, including, weeds are necessary and have a role in the natural system. In a fact, in natural cultivation, soil fertility is said to come from weeds. The greater diversity of weeds the better.
This concept resonated with Imai-san. As he explained, “We can learn something from this growing method that applies to the human world. In some way or another, everyone has a role. I’m certain of it.”
For Imai-san, the parallels extend even deeper. Often Japanese society doesn’t accept the members his group home. Schools don’t cater to the needs of people with disabilities, and families often try to hide members who are disabled, not wanting to trouble their neighbors. In the name of not bothering others, this culture of suppressing people with disabilities is perpetuated by Japanese culture and even by areas of social welfare.
Today, in the gardens and farm plots of Musubia, Imai-san practices radical companion planting. He’s just as apt to break the rules as he is to follow tried and true pairings, planting all sorts of plants together.
“I want my gardens to represent a society where everyone can coexist,” he explains.
Moreover, because his plots are spread out across town, neighbors around the city are able to interact with his members. Through the gardens, people of all abilities become part of everyday life and society. The neighbors, many elderly, share their knowledge about the wind, water and soil, supporting Musubia members with farming. In return the members will share some of their harvest. Through such exchanges, Musubia gardens become a place connection.
“The thing we value most is for our members to live. For our members to live in their community along others. We want to make this vision a reality. That’s why we bring our members to the field.”