Articles
Rediscovering the value of small-scale wasabi fields: a focus on Shizuoka City
Article number
1455_20
Pages
161 – 166
Language
English
Abstract
Japanese wasabi (Eutrema japonicum (Miq.) Kindz.) is one of Japan’s original vegetables and it needs cool pure water and shade to thrive.
Wasabi paddy fields serve as valuable tourist attractions, offering foreign visitors a glimpse of Japanese culture and domestic tourists a connection to the rural Satoyama landscape.
From 2017 to 2018, the “traditional cultivation of Shizuoka water wasabi” was recognized as world and Japanese agricultural heritage.
In central Japan’s Shizuoka Prefecture, upstream wasabi fields along the Abe River face notable winter water shortages.
Water temperature in two surveyed fields ranged from 10 to 18°C. At the high-altitude site, temperatures fell below 8°C, the minimum temperature for wasabi growth, on 50-80 days year‑1; whereas, at the low-altitude site, this occurred on just 11 days.
The temperature differences at both altitudes, influenced by irrigation water, made it challenging to apply the Bowen heat balance method for evapotranspiration calculations.
Sap flow rates were high in winter and the dry season in the cypress stands above the wasabi fields, suggesting competition for water with irrigation.
Wasabi fields function as hydrological heritage, where early cultivators had a comprehensive understanding of the hydrological environment at the river source, controlled flooding, and built stone terraces on-site.
These fields create a mosaic of cool microclimates and sustain a unique, pesticide-free ecosystem, making them landscapes worthy of preservation for future generations.
Wasabi paddy fields serve as valuable tourist attractions, offering foreign visitors a glimpse of Japanese culture and domestic tourists a connection to the rural Satoyama landscape.
From 2017 to 2018, the “traditional cultivation of Shizuoka water wasabi” was recognized as world and Japanese agricultural heritage.
In central Japan’s Shizuoka Prefecture, upstream wasabi fields along the Abe River face notable winter water shortages.
Water temperature in two surveyed fields ranged from 10 to 18°C. At the high-altitude site, temperatures fell below 8°C, the minimum temperature for wasabi growth, on 50-80 days year‑1; whereas, at the low-altitude site, this occurred on just 11 days.
The temperature differences at both altitudes, influenced by irrigation water, made it challenging to apply the Bowen heat balance method for evapotranspiration calculations.
Sap flow rates were high in winter and the dry season in the cypress stands above the wasabi fields, suggesting competition for water with irrigation.
Wasabi fields function as hydrological heritage, where early cultivators had a comprehensive understanding of the hydrological environment at the river source, controlled flooding, and built stone terraces on-site.
These fields create a mosaic of cool microclimates and sustain a unique, pesticide-free ecosystem, making them landscapes worthy of preservation for future generations.
Authors
S. Takeuchi, N. Tanaka
Keywords
wasabi, paddy field, water temperature, landscape
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