Satoyama Garden, Yokohama, Japan

Satoyama are traditional peasant landscapes, combining rice agriculture and water management with woodlands. The woodlands—the heart of the satoyama concept—were once disturbed, and thus maintained, through their use for firewood and charcoal-making as well as nontimber forest products. Today, the most valuable product of the satoyama woodland is matsutake. To restore woodlands for matsutake encourages a suite of other living things: pines and oaks, understory herbs, insects, birds. Restoration requires disturbance—but disturbance to enhance diversity and the healthy functioning of ecosystems. Some kinds of ecosystems, advocates argue, flourish with human activities.

Ecological restoration programs around the world use human action to rearrange natural landscapes. What distinguishes satoyama revitalization, for me, is the idea that human activities should be part of the forest in the same way as nonhuman activities. Humans, pines, matsutake, and other species should all make the landscape together, in this project. One Japanese scientist explained matsutake as the result of “unintentional cultivation,” because human disturbance makes the presence of matsutake more likely—despite the fact that humans are entirely incapable of cultivating the mushroom. Indeed, one could say that pines, matsutake, and humans all cultivate each other unintentionally. They make each other’s world-making projects possible. This idiom has allowed me to consider how landscapes more generally are products of unintentional design, that is, the overlapping world-making activities of many agents, human and not human. The design is clear in the landscape’s ecosystem. But none of the agents have planned this effect. Humans join others in making landscapes of unintentional design.

Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins

In front of a Thatched Roof House by Katsuaki Shoda

NOVARA JAZZ 2023 DIARY : DALLA MUSICA PER GLI OCCHI ALLA SANA FOLLIA DEL JAZZ

È noto che il jazz sia un genere musicale molto visivo e che il binomio jazz-fotografia sia quasi un’associazione mentale automatica e, non credo sia un caso, che la XX edizione di Novara Jazz si apra con una mostra fotografica, quella di Luciano Rossetti, storico commentatore per immagini del festival novarese, che si intitola “Vent’anni di Novara Jazz” e che è ospitata, sino al termine del festival, presso il Broletto Café nel cortile dell’omonimo complesso monumentale. Le immagini, naturalmente in b/n come si conviene a quasi tutta la fotografia del jazz, e non chiedete il perché tanto nessuno vi saprà dare una risposta convincente, sono di quelle che non passano inosservate come quella di Alexander Hawkins gioiosamente ritratto davanti al pianoforte in Casa Bossi a Novara o quella del memorabile solo di Peter Evans nella Basilica di San Gaudenzio: non per nulla Rossetti vinse nel 2021 il Jazz Journalism Association Award. La musica si accende alle 21 a Nòva per il raffinatissimo concerto dei “Satoyama”, un jazz che potremmo definire d’ambiente, ma nel senso pieno della parola, poiché il gruppo guidato da Luca Benedetto (tromba e tastiera) ha davvero un occhio speciale per l’ambiente, tanto che a fine concerto, dopo aver fatto salmodiare all’unisono un pubblico attento e partecipe, ha donato loro un seme di un albero da piantare (e possibilmente far crescere). E la musica? Immaginifica e onirica, di colore blu oltremare, elemento importante per il gruppo, placenta, luogo simbolico e fisico. Sonorità che si trasformano in qualcosa che non erano e che diventano qualcosa che potrebbero essere stato. Una gamma multiforme di suoni e di colori che creano un campo di concentrazione magnetica tra chi suona e chi ascolta. “Non sarà la bellezza a salvare il mondo, ma dovremmo essere noi a salvare la bellezza” dice in chiusura Luca Benedetto e sono parole in perfetta consonanza con la loro musica. Gruppo notevolissimo composto, oltre che da Benedetto, anche da Christian Russano (chitarra ed elettronica), Marco Belfiore (contrabbasso ed elettronica), Gabriele Luttino (batteria, glokenspiel ed elettronica).

Altro registro per Caterina Palazzi e Sudoku Killer nel secondo concerto della serata, sempre a Nòva. Discorso musicale ispirato ad alcune singolari patologie psichiatriche, che sembra voler colpire allo stomaco l’ascoltatore, ma in realtà si tratta di un jazz molto sofisticato con significative origini di rock energetico, con un tocco di (sana) follia. Il sax tenore di Sergio Pomante, la batteria di Maurizio Chiavaro, la chitarra di Giacomo Ancillotto e il magnifico contrabbasso di Caterina Palazzo, leader del gruppo, declinano la follia paranoide in una godibilissima sessione di jazz duro e scarno, acido e livido, ma di diamantina purezza. Al termine consueta jam session della Scuola Dedalo. In questi casi si dice che il festival comincia sotto i migliori auspici…

〈『せとチャレ！STU48』ヒバゴン登場！？〉 明日9月22日(木)深夜放送の広島ホームテレビ『せとチャレ！STU48』は、STU48、工藤理子さん・田中美帆さんが、ゲストのアキナの秋山賢太さん・山名文和さんとともに、”新公演の告知”を懸けて、庄原市を舞台に過酷なチャレンジを全力挑戦！ヒバゴンも乱入！？ 唐辛子の栽培・加工・販売を行う「吉岡香辛料研究所」@yoshioka_hotlab で数々の激辛に挑む！ りんごの産地・東城町小奴可の「岩本観光りんご園」も登場予定。 さらに庄原市が世界に誇る未確認生物ヒバゴンも登場!! せとチャレ初MCの、STU48りこち＆みほりん&ヒバゴンの活躍をお見逃しなく！ 📍広島ホームテレビ 　放送日時：9月22日（木）深夜0時21分〜 📍出演者情報 STU48 工藤理子さん・田中美帆さん ゲスト＞アキナ 秋山賢太さん・山名文和さん　 ヒバゴン  #アキナ　#STU48 #せとチャレ　#吉岡香辛料研究所 #小奴可りんご #激辛　#ハバネロ　#キャロライナリーパー #工藤理子さん #田中美帆  #秋山賢太さん #山名文和 #ヒバゴン #東城町　#唐辛子　#熱波カレー　#激辛カレー　#激辛　#庄原が好き #1000年アート里山庄原　#satoyama #里山　#さとやま #hiroshima #庄原　#庄原市 @setochalle_stu48 @akiyama.0624 @fumikazu_yamana https://www.instagram.com/p/Ciw6fpPu0N_/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

SATOYAMA JUJO

The nature, facilities, food, and hospitality were fantastic.

里山あれこれ。

先日お仕事で兵庫県の真ん中のほうへ。時間が少しあったので道中写真を撮りながら行ってまいりました。

兵庫のチベットととも称されることもある地域だけに朝晩の冷え込みと天気の移り変わりがバラエティに富んでおりました。

Satoyama landscape.

Satoyama Garden, Yokohama, Japan

Hello! Projectが行く！ナルチカ日帰り里山旅2024

ねことつきとふゆのよる。

本日は今年最初の満月だそうですな。ウルフムーンとかいうとかなんとか。

残念ながら私の住むまちでは見られず…なので一昨日の撮り初めでの一枚、キャットムーンということで。

膝にはねこ、空には月。よき年始となりました。

The Dog in Satoyama by Katsuaki Shoda Via Flickr: Satoyama is a Japanese term that refers to traditional rural landscapes reflecting the harmonious coexistence of people and nature, typically characterized by mountainous areas surrounded by cultivated fields and forests.

いきなりカフェ営業

詳細は省きますが、川本町の三原地区にある「カフェえごまの実」を試しに使ってなにかしらカフェ営業をしてみることになり、スイーツとゲームを楽しむカフェを開催しました。

当日はあいにくの雪模様❄

カフェのお知らせは、前々日のインスタ投稿のみだったので、ほとんど誰もこないだろうという予想は、ありがたいことに見事に裏切られ、応援の意味もこめて多くのかたにお越しいただきました。

想定以上のお客様数だったので、席もスイーツも、人手も足りず、提供は遅いわ、ゲームの説明は詳しいお客様任せになるわで、大変ご迷惑をおかけしました。申し訳ありませんでした。

でも思っていた以上に、みなさんゲームを楽しんでくださったのがうれしかったです。いつも家族3人でボードゲームをしているので、メンバーが変わるとやっぱり面白いですね。

川本町にはゆっくりできるカフェがないから、たまに営業してくれるとありがたいという声もいただきました。

「カフェえごまの実」の活用方法としてボードゲームカフェは広さの制約があり、子連れで来られる方が多いことや駐車場の数なども考えるとミスマッチだったと思います。テイクアウトおにぎり屋、コッペパン屋なども考え中です。えごまがシーズンインしてしまったので、次のお試しカフェがいつになるかはわかりませんが、すこしずつカフェスキルを上げていけるよう頑張ります。

The Original Transplants Podcast Episode 68: Rookie Numbers finds Satoyama Homestead stewards Will and Sarah surprised to discover that Feedspot has named us #8 in the 20 best horticulture podcasts in the world. We introduce plans for a NCAA-style fruit bracket to determine once and for all what is the best fruit produced on the homestead. We visit the apiary, where Will is treating for varroa mite and recounting his adventures speaking about bees at a library with a resident observation hive. Will's beekeeping thriller, Here, the Bees Sting, is available everywhere books are bought (...and even on some pirating sites!). Almost one-year-old Lucy enjoys tea-time visits to the chicken coop, where matriarch seven-year-old black australorp brooder hen Mayapple still lays the occasional egg. Sarah is embarking on a pasture management project to establish white clover and replace encroaching weeds. In the edible landscape, tomatoes, peppers, okra are performing well, while summer and winter squash and melon are struggling along. Sarah discovered a new favorite way to prepare okra, with a tomato-yogurt sauce as the north Indian dish dahi bhindi. The stewards are busy reclaiming the yard from nature after Sarah's pregnancy-induced hiatus, and are trying to 'mulch all the things' before this winter's snowpack. For homestead fun, the stewards enjoyed watching a family of wrens raise their fledglings in the bark cavity of a natural white oak fence post along their garden, and are looking forward to filling the chest freezer with produce, chiles rellenos, sustainably farm-raised meat, and venison. For homestead chores, Will has been on varmint control, while Sarah has installed downspout diverter kits on both rain barrels to stave off foundation damage. In agriculture news, Will shares a detective story about a persimmon orchard submitted by listener Wyoming (now Georgia) Jo, and Sarah goes nuts for nut trees with the Northern Nut Growers Association and Chestnut Growers in America when Lancaster Farming reports on their conference in Reading, PA.

Episode Notes (below the jump)

Feedspot - 20 Best Horticulture Podcasts https://blog.feedspot.com/horticulture_podcasts/ 

PennState Extension - Weed Management in Pastures https://extension.psu.edu/weed-management-in-pastures

Pooja - Dahi Bhindi/Tangy Indian Okra in Yogurt http://poojascookery.com/dahi-bhindi-tangy-indian-okra/

elizapples - "In the early 1900s, there was an Illinois attorney, Floyd Sonneman, who had it bad for persimmons."

Dan Sullivan for Lancaster Farming - Nut Tree Growers Converge in Reading, PA for Annual Conference https://www.lancasterfarming.com/news/main_edition/nut-tree-growers-converge-in-reading-pennsylvania-for-annual-conference/article_77d486f4-1827-11ed-bc0f-c35fe142fde9.html

〈🍎比和町・白根りんご農園、直売スタート〉 白根りんご農園さんのInstagramで 9月15日よりりんごの直売をスタートしたことを知り、行ってきました。 店先には、 この時期の定番「つがる」と 松田聖子さんの歌のタイトルのような品種名「スイートメロディー」　※ちなみに松田聖子さんの歌のタイトルは「SWEET MEMORIES」 りんごの加工品も注目！👀 りんごジュースやジャムそして、りんごをたっぷり使ったフルーティーな焼き肉のタレも販売されています。 　さらに、そのタレでぜひ食べていただきたい猪肉も販売されています。 しかし、心配なのは、台風 9月18日、19日台風対策のため、店舗をお休みする可能性があります。　 白根りんご農園さんでは、インスタグラムで情報発信されています。 ▼ぜひチェックしてください。 @hiwaringo #白根りんご農園　#スイートメロディー #広島 #庄原　 #りんご　#つがる　#ジビエ　 #ジビエ工房　#庄原ジビエ工房　#広島ジビエ #国産ジビエ認証　#庄原市　#広島県庄原市 #1000年アート里山庄原　#庄原が好き #hitひろしま観光大使 #やっぱ広島じゃ #syamanami  #しゃまなみ #satoyama　#shobara  #ええじゃろ広島 #ミタイケンひろしま 　#hiroshima #広島県 (白根りんご農園) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cim5rWsrL5W/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=