Converting the Forces of Nature to a Cultural Force—An Invitation to Pursue the Study of “Satoyama” (A “Satoyama” May Only Be a Little Village Near the Mountains, Only at Best a “Satoyama”. Yet, Even So, It Is a “Satoyama”!)

Abstract

“Satoyamas” are important geographical spaces related to the living zones inhabited by humans that can be made affluent through human agency, unlike the Okuyamas (mountain recesses) located far from villages. It was important for us to reconsider the force of nature that we could not have predicted so far by studying “Satoyama”. I hope that “Satoyama Studies” will develop to become a study pursued by global citizens and another field of human study, combining, blending, and mediating among the existing sciences.