This book provides an overview of the distribution, properties, and function of soils in Japan. First, it offers general descriptions of the country’s climate, geology, geomorphology, and land use, the history of the Japanese soil classification system and characteristics and genesis of major soil types follow. For each region – a geographic/administrative region of the country – there is a chapter with details of current land use as well as properties and management challenges of major soils. Maps of soil distribution, pedon descriptions, profile images, and tables of properties are included throughout the text and appendices.

Silicon (Si) plays a significant role in the resistance of plants to multiple stresses including biotic and abiotic stresses. Silicon is also the only element that does not damage plants when accumulated in excess. However, the contribution of Si to plant growth has been largely ignored due to its universal existence in the earth's crust. From numerous intensive studies on Si, initiated in Japan about 80 years ago, Japanese scientists realized that Si was important for the healthy growth of rice and for stability of rice production. In a worldwide first, silicon was recognized as a valuable fertilizer in Japan. The beneficial effects of Si on rice growth in particular, are largely attributable to the characteristics of a silica gel that is accumulated on the epidermal tissues in rice. These effects are expressed most clearly under high-density cultivation systems with heavy applications of nitrogen. Si is therefore recognized now as an ''agronomically essential element'' in Japan.Recently, Si has become globally important because it generates resistance in many plants to diseases and pests, and may contribute to reduced rates of application of pesticides and fungicides. Silicon is also now considered as an environment-friendly element. The achievements of Si research in Japan are introduced in this book, in relation to soils, fertilizers and plant nutrition.

Volcanic eruptions are generally viewed as agents of destruction, yet they provide the parent materials from which some of the most productive soils in the world are formed. The high productivity results from a combination of unique physical, chemical and mineralogical properties. The importance and uniqueness of volcanic ash soils are exemplified by the recent establishment of the Andisol soil order in Soil Taxonomy. This book provides the first comprehensive synthesis of all aspects of volcanic ash soils in a single volume. It contains in-depth coverage of important topics including terminology, morphology, genesis, classification, mineralogy, chemistry, physical properties, productivity and utilization. A wealth of data (37 tables, 81 figures, and Appendix) mainly from the Tohoku University Andisol Data Base is used to illustrate major concepts. Twelve color plates provide a valuable visual-aid and complement the text description of the world-wide distribution for volcanic ash soils.This volume will serve as a valuable reference for soil scientists, plant scientists, ecologists and geochemists interested in biogeochemical processes occurring in soils derived form volcanic ejecta.

Water control is essential to Japan, as more than half of its invested capital is concentrated in elevations under sea level and the majority of the island nation is exceptionally vulnerable to flooding. To avoid potential crisis, the Japanese have developed exceptionally innovative water management practices. Offering the unique perspective of Dutch engineers, considered the world’s most progressive urban water experts, this volume provide a detailed look at how Japan has developed its modern water system. It looks at the system of Tokyo city, discusses river management practices and urban flood control throughout the country, and considers the impact that these innovations have had on delta regions.

Call it “Zen and the Art of Farming” or a “Little Green Book,” Masanobu Fukuoka’s manifesto about farming, eating, and the limits of human knowledge presents a radical challenge to the global systems we rely on for our food. At the same time, it is a spiritual memoir of a man whose innovative system of cultivating the earth reflects a deep faith in the wholeness and balance of the natural world. As Wendell Berry writes in his preface, the book “is valuable to us because it is at once practical and philosophical. It is an inspiring, necessary book about agriculture because it is not just about agriculture.” Trained as a scientist, Fukuoka rejected both modern agribusiness and centuries of agricultural practice, deciding instead that the best forms of cultivation mirror nature’s own laws. Over the next three decades he perfected his so-called “do-nothing” technique: commonsense, sustainable practices that all but eliminate the use of pesticides, fertilizer, tillage, and perhaps most significantly, wasteful effort. Whether you’re a guerrilla gardener or a kitchen gardener, dedicated to slow food or simply looking to live a healthier life, you will find something here—you may even be moved to start a revolution of your own.

This book introduces what sclerotia grains are, and where and how they exist in soils, by compiling the results obtained from the studies on fungal sclerotia formed by Cenococcum geophilum (Cg) and related species, the visible black small grains persistent for a few thousand to ten thousands of years in forest soils and sediments. The chapters contain the results and discussions on the ecological distribution and regulating factors, characteristics, and function of Cg sclerotia grains, carried out by researchers from soil geography, soil science, soil microbiology, physiology, forestry, analytical chemistry, environmental chemistry, material science, and related disciplines. The anatomy of sclerotia grains in soil was realized in terms of interdisciplinary joint researches, which resulted in deepening understanding of the ecological function of the mesoscale organic component in soils. This book covers the natural history of sclerotia in soils, pedo-sclerotiology.

Japan’s traditional and fragile satoyama landscape system was developed over centuries of human life on mountainous island terrain in a monsoon climate. The carefully managed coppice woodlands on the hillsides, the villages strung along the base of the hills, and the carefully tended paddy fields of rural Japan made possible the sustainable interaction of nature and humans. Radical changes in the middle of the twentieth century led to the abandonment of satoyama landscapes which now are being rediscovered. There is a new realization that these woodlands still play a vital role in the management of the Japanese landscape and a new determination to manage them for the future. This multifaceted book explores the history, nature, biodiversity, current conservation measures, and future uses of satoyama. The information presented here will be of interest in all parts of the world where patterns of sustainable development are being sought.

This open access book presents the findings from on-site research into radioactive cesium contamination in various agricultural systems affected by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident in March 2011. This third volume in the series reports on studies undertaken at contaminated sites such as farmland, forests, and marine and freshwater environments, with a particular focus on livestock, wild plants and mushrooms, crops, and marine products in those environments. It also provides additional data collected in the subsequent years to show how the radioactivity levels in agricultural products and their growing environments have changed with time and the route by which radioactive materials entered agricultural products as well as their movement between different components (e.g., soil, water, and trees) within an environmental system (e.g., forests). The book covers various topics, including radioactivity testing of food products; decontamination trials for rice and livestock production; the state of contamination in, trees, mushrooms, and timber; the dynamics of radioactivity distribution in paddy fields and upland forests; damage incurred by the forestry and fishery industries; and the change in consumers’ attitudes. Chapter 19 introduces a real-time radioisotope imaging system, a pioneering technique to visualize the movement of cesium in soil and in plants. This is the only book to provide systematic data on the actual change of radioactivity, and as such is of great value to all researchers who wish to understand the effect of radioactive fallout on agriculture. In addition, it helps the general public to better understand the issues of radio-contamination in the environment. The project is ongoing; the research groups from the Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences of The University of Tokyo continue their work in the field to further evaluate the long-term effects of the Fukushima accident.

The first soil survey in the Philippines was done by Mr. Clarence Dorsey, an American soil scientist in the province of Batangas in 1903. The Soils of the Philippines, however, is the first comprehensive summary of more than a century of soil-survey work in this country. It integrates the soil concepts of the reconnaissance soil-survey results, which commenced as early as 1934 and continued until the mid 1960s, with the semi-detailed soil surveys that continue to this day. The result is the first-ever genetic key for classifying Philippine soils at soil series level; thus, making it possible for any newcomers to the soil survey field to confidently produce their own soil map, at a more detailed map scale, to suit the project requirements. This book brings together discussions on soils and soil mapping units and up-to-date international techniques and technologies. It makes soils relevant to current political realities and national issues. As soil survey moves from a reductionist agricultural-development planning tool to a more holistic and integrated approach, to enable us to understand our dynamic and complex environment, The Soils of the Philippines will be the only source of authoritative and updated data on soil resources for macro-level resource management planning for decades to come. With a vanishing breed of experienced soil surveyors, not only in the Philippines but also worldwide, it may remain the only book on Philippine soils for the next hundred years or more. Since soils follow a geological and not a human time frame, the contents of this volume will stay relevant for soil surveyors even in a fast changing world. As the country leaps from an agricultural economy towards modernization and a more diversified economic base, some of the soil series in the Philippines, for example the Guadalupe series underlying the skyscrapers of Makati City, are becoming extinct as a result of urban development. Therefore, this book serves as the repository for the soils that we possess, the soils that have been lost through decades of urbanization while, at the same time, it creates a soil classification system for the soils we are yet to discover.

Soil organic matter (SOM) represents a major pool of carbon within the biosphere, roughly twice than in atmospheric CO2. SOM models embody our best understanding of soil carbon dynamics and are needed to predict how global environmental change will influence soil carbon stocks. These models are also required for evaluating the likely effectiveness of different mitigation options. The first important step towards systematically evaluating the suitability of SOM models for these purposes is to test their simulations against real data. Since changes in SOM occur slowly, long-term datasets are required. This volume brings together leading SOM model developers and experimentalists to test SOM models using long-term datasets from diverse ecosystems, land uses and climatic zones within the temperate region.