Presentation Information
[O04-05]Local Knowledge Developed through Circular Fields and Resident-Led Sustainable Community Development on the Goto Islands, Japan★Invited Papers
*Tomohiro Takaba1 (1.Center for Education and Research of Disasier Risk Reduction and Redesign, Oita University)
Keywords:
Circular Fields “Maruhata”,Local Knowledge,Sustainable Development,Goto Islands,Geopark
On Fukue Island in the Goto Islands, there exist distinctive agricultural fields known as circular fields "maruhata". These fields are distributed on gently sloping plateaus formed by low-viscosity basaltic lava, and their shapes are largely determined by the subtle uneven microtopography created during lava flow emplacement. Traditionally, sweet potatoes and wheat have been cultivated there, and in some areas water buffalo were used for plowing. Windbreak forests surround the fields, within which camellia trees are planted. Small valleys between fields function both as farm roads and as drainage channels during heavy rainfall.
Large-scale reclamation of these circular fields is thought to have occurred from the late eighteenth century onward, when Hidden Christians migrated—both officially and unofficially—from mainland Nagasaki to the Goto Islands. Sweet potatoes, introduced to the islands around the seventeenth century, became an important nutritional resource in areas unsuitable for rice cultivation and formed the basis of local food culture, including kankoro-mochi, a representative regional specialty. Thus, circular fields are not merely agricultural plots but function as an ecosystem linking human livelihoods, land, and ecology through a culturally shaped landscape.
Today, as the agricultural population declines and abandoned farmland increases, initiatives have emerged to preserve and utilize this local knowledge. A community organization promoting regional revitalization centered on camellia cultivation has organized field visits to its circular fields for university students and interested participants since 2024. In addition, a local agricultural corporation is promoting the branding of Goto-produced sweet potatoes while expanding employment opportunities by preserving the original circular field morphology rather than leveling the land. This presentation introduces these efforts toward realizing a sustainable society while highlighting the value and appeal of circular fields.
Large-scale reclamation of these circular fields is thought to have occurred from the late eighteenth century onward, when Hidden Christians migrated—both officially and unofficially—from mainland Nagasaki to the Goto Islands. Sweet potatoes, introduced to the islands around the seventeenth century, became an important nutritional resource in areas unsuitable for rice cultivation and formed the basis of local food culture, including kankoro-mochi, a representative regional specialty. Thus, circular fields are not merely agricultural plots but function as an ecosystem linking human livelihoods, land, and ecology through a culturally shaped landscape.
Today, as the agricultural population declines and abandoned farmland increases, initiatives have emerged to preserve and utilize this local knowledge. A community organization promoting regional revitalization centered on camellia cultivation has organized field visits to its circular fields for university students and interested participants since 2024. In addition, a local agricultural corporation is promoting the branding of Goto-produced sweet potatoes while expanding employment opportunities by preserving the original circular field morphology rather than leveling the land. This presentation introduces these efforts toward realizing a sustainable society while highlighting the value and appeal of circular fields.