Yoshikazu Kawaguchi and Kaori Tsuji talk about Kawaguchi's natural farming methods (Photo: P.M. Lydon | Final Straw)

First Japanese Interview – Yoshikazu Kawaguchi

We had our first meeting with a Japanese natural farmer today, and it was an amazing one.

Yoshikazu Kawaguchi has written several books and is a “natural farming” icon in Japan. Today, he invited us to his home near Nara, Japan, where we talked over tea and the most juicy, crisp, and sweet peas I have ever tasted, fresh from his farm of course.

Co-Director Patrick Lydon with natural farmer Yoshikazu Kawaguchi in Akame, Japan (CC BY-SA, Kaori Tsuji / Final Straw)
Co-Director Patrick Lydon with natural farmer Yoshikazu Kawaguchi in Akame, Japan (CC BY-SA, Kaori Tsuji / Final Straw)

The tour around his farm was also beyond words, and the greenery of his plants especially stood out against the dull, dry, barren fields of his neighbors who practice conventional farming methods.

Kawaguchi has become so popular in Japan, that each month, several hundred people come from all over the country to learn from his free farming classes.

Yoshikazu Kawaguchi at his home natural farm garden in Nara, Japan (Photo: P.M. Lydon | FInal Straw)
Yoshikazu Kawaguchi at his home natural farm garden in Nara, Japan (Photo: P.M. Lydon | FInal Straw)

We’ll visit the class tomorrow, and stay at the rather large farm along with Kawaguchi and the students.