※About the fields in this series: from 2016 onwards it's the current field. The fields of 2013–2014 and of 2015 were each different.
The rough sequence for bringing abandoned land back to a paddy is this:
・cut the grass
・find the water channel
・establish the channel
・repair the ridges
・let water in and watch what happens
The channel was alive
March 2016. Alongside the clearing, the first thing I did was look for the water channel. On land abandoned for years, the channel is blocked with branches, leaves and silt, and at first glance is nowhere to be found.
To check the channel, cut the grass along it,
and watch the flow of water.
Following the channel, what I'd thought was useless
turned out, apparently, to be alive.
Cleaned the channel.
(Blog "Landing on the Soil", "Four: Finding the channel", 25 March 2016)
In a place that was once a rice field, the work of those who farmed here before remains.
Like finding one piece of a puzzle that lets you go on, this is where restoration begins.
Walking around here and there, I discovered under the grass a "channel" made by the previous owner.
Having secured two, I think grass cutting and some repair will make them work well enough.
(Blog "Landing on the Soil", "Seven: The channel", 31 March 2016)
Our field uses mountain water.
The mountain water becomes a small stream about a metre wide, and branches off from there to the field.
The weir built in the stream needs no grand construction.
Tried damming it with stones.
Can't stop it completely,
but it works well enough.
(Blog "Landing on the Soil", "Seven: The channel", 31 March 2016)
Thinking of those who use the water downstream, it's actually better not to stop it completely.
If the flow passes through the field and returns to the stream, fine; if not,
・let water into the field only at night
・don't block the channel fully; leave it half open
— such consideration for downstream is absolutely necessary.
Also, I don't use empty compost sacks or plastic bags to dam the water. They tend to get washed away and become rubbish when the water rises after a typhoon.
Tool
・a square spade
Establishing the channel seems to have been rather hard going. The blog posts of the time tell the story.
Still haven't established the channel.
How many years was it left alone?
It returned to nature gradually,
so it can only gradually become a rice field — a man-made thing — again.
Muttering this over and over, I hold down the urge to hurry.
(Blog "Landing on the Soil", "Five: Securing the channel", 30 March 2016)
A year of water — when to let it in, when to drain
Once the channel is revived, the rest is a year of living with water. Our calendar goes like this.
・Winter: even in winter, I don't neglect cleaning the channel and checking the weir. Since we keep the field flooded through winter, it's less "starting to let water in" than "never letting it run dry"
・The day before planting (June): stop the water for a while, leaving just a thin film (Chapter 7)
・Summer (July–August): the season of weeding and water patrols. Once heading begins, the rice needs water most
・About 35 days after heading (late September): stop the water
・About 45 days after heading (early October): harvest
・After the harvest: flood again, into winter flooding. The year of water comes round, too
For reference, here is the 2016 record of thinking through when to drain.
Our field headed on 23 August.
Stop the water 10 days before harvest (some people stop about 30 days after heading).
About 35 days after heading (26 Sep): stop water — for work reasons, stopped on 29 Sep
About 45 days after heading (6 Oct): harvest — began harvesting 9 Oct
(Blog "Landing on the Soil", "When to drain", 15 September 2016)
Incidentally, in 2026 the Asamurasaki headed on 3 August.
When to drain differs by method. The same year, an older neighbour told me "you've got to drain it", and I thought as follows.
But in the Yoshikazu Kawaguchi method, you keep letting water in until about the end of September.
In the Nobuo Iwasawa method, too, if harvesting by hand it's fine to keep the field flooded until just before.
There's the balance with animal damage, but I'll follow the Iwasawa method as faithfully as I can.
No — I'll drain only the lowest field.
＊Upper: keep deep water until harvest
＊Lower: drain
(Blog "Landing on the Soil", "No damage, for once", 14 September 2016)
Broadly, conventional and natural farming differ.
If harvesting by hand, you can cut with deep water until three days before. Some people even harvest with the field still flooded.
Here's a reflection from the time we suffered boar damage.
I brought it forward from the planned date because I thought: if they're using it as a wallow, why not make it dry ground, unsuited to wallowing?
(Blog "Landing on the Soil", "Stopping the water", 24 September 2016)
But boar will wallow even on dry ground, as long as there's a thicket of grass.
From around 21 September, start minding the water stop.
Adding "around" feels right for a land with the climate of all creation.
(Blog "Landing on the Soil", "When to drain", 15 September 2016)
These days, with the water shortage, my field needs no thought about when to drain: the water disappears by itself.
Daily water management — when there's no water in the morning
Water management is simple.
Dam the field's inlet so that half still goes downstream.
Morning and evening, check that water is entering the field. That's all.
When you want water, dam it fully before work and open it half after.
And if there's no water, check things in order.
Our current patrol order is: channel → stream → field.
① First, the channel — is it blocked by branches, leaves or silt?
Fallen branches and leaves, of course, and especially after a typhoon or heavy rain, silt and grass wash in and easily block the channel. Walk along the channel and you'll see at once. One square spade is enough to clear it.
② Next, the stream — check the flow and the weir.
Look at the stream itself, before it reaches the field's channel. If the flow has dropped, think about why. If it's the weather, all you can do is pray.
After a typhoon or heavy rain the weir is sometimes broken.
③ Then, the field — is there a hole?
Thought it might be a mole, but on checking, water was roaring out through a hole dug by a boar.
Probably went straight down to the hard soil and through to the lowest field.
(Blog "Landing on the Soil", "Repairing the ridge", 8 August 2016)
Fix it and fix it — a game of cat and mouse. Cat and mole.
(Blog "Landing on the Soil", "Mole holes however much I fill them", 31 August 2016)
The answer is patrols and a spade.
Crushed the hole with a spade.
Water began to pool straight away.
(Blog "Landing on the Soil", "Water-shortage measures", 10 August 2016)
When you find a hole, pack it with stones of various sizes. Once water stops escaping, cover with field soil or ridge soil.
Besides moles, mice and mole crickets dig holes too.
Even a small hole, once water starts through it, gradually erodes around and grows.
Incidentally, for some reason in 2026 no holes have been made.
Perhaps the creatures that used to be here can no longer live, with the drying-out from water shortage and the higher temperatures. That's my guess at the time of writing.
Footprint channels — calling water by walking
Even when water enters the field from the channel, it doesn't easily spread over the whole field. In 2014 I arrived at a way of carrying water by walking.
Made channels with footprints, and did the work of calling the water.
(Blog "Rice Diary", "Come, water.", 4 May 2014)
Walk on the soil, and the water follows.
Walk at random and the water doesn't come.
Tread one step and call the water; meanwhile plaster the ridge; come back and you can tread one more step.
(Blog "Rice Diary", "Come, water.", 4 May 2014)
I used this method in the 2016 field too. In a field where water spreads poorly, I walk out main lines and side paths.
Decided to run something like channels so the water would spread better.
First, three main streets, from the inlet to the far end.
Roughly cut the grass with the brush cutter, then walked back and forth many times to make the channels.
(…)
Once water settled into the main streets,
started making side paths.
(Blog "Landing on the Soil", "Water-shortage measures", 10 August 2016)
Fourteen years of failures and what I did
Failure: I dug the pond too deep.
The spring water in the 2014 field was too cold (see Chapter 1), so I took the approach of warming the water in a pond before letting it in. I thought deeper was better, and dug. Incidentally, I don't make one now.
I'd thought: dig deep in a small area and hold a lot of water. But
the owner of a terrace who made a pond from scratch last year advised:
"however deep I made it, in the end only the surface warmed."
What's more, I'd stripped away the clay layer and dug until pebbles came rattling out.
(Blog "Rice Diary", "Making the pond", 9 April 2014)
That year's reflection, and the design for the next year, went like this.
Can't feel much effect from the pond.
Next year, about half the depth, and half the area will do.
Make a winding earthen channel and plant taro and ginger on the earth parts.
To make the water level easy to adjust, make a channel on the mountain side for water to pass through.
Put the drain from pond to channel on the mountain side.
A terrace field gets deeper from the mountain side towards the valley stream.
(Blog "Rice Diary", "Thoughts on next year's pond and channel", 22 May 2014)
After that I moved from that terrace to another, and have made no pond since.
Because I came to grow varieties tolerant of low water temperatures.
End-of-chapter column: I'll be the rain cloud
In the spring of 2015, two weeks after sowing, germination was only 10–20%. No rain fell at all.
The temperature under the grass mulch was cold.
Still no rain.
Perhaps the water and warmth needed for germination are lacking?
(Blog "Mother is the Earth, Father is the Sky", "Day Twenty-two", 7 May 2015)
The blog at the time was called "Mother is the Earth, Father is the Sky". That day's post continues:
I see — Father is the Sky; if no rain falls, I'll be the rain cloud.
If they're shivering with cold, I'll prepare a warm house.
Went straight out to buy a big watering can and non-woven mulch.
(Blog "Mother is the Earth, Father is the Sky", "Day Twenty-two", 7 May 2015)
Next chapter: "Wildlife damage — countermeasures and acceptance". Of everything I tried, the one that really worked.
Tool list
1 Square spade, for reference on the shape: Kinzo square spade (PR)
The table of contents for the Kindle edition is here ↓
Contents map on note (in Japanese)
📚 See also
🌱 Digital DIY course materials (in Japanese)
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✉️ Newsletter "Kakuuchi" (entirely handwritten)
Behind-the-scenes stories of daily life, from weeding to using AI.
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