31 Facts About Masanobu Fukuoka

Masanobu Fukuoka was a Japanese farmer and philosopher celebrated for his natural farming and re-vegetation of desertified lands.

Masanobu Fukuoka was a proponent of no-till, herbicide and pesticide-free cultivation methods from which he created a particular method of agriculture, commonly referred to as "natural farming" or "do-nothing farming".

Masanobu Fukuoka's influences went beyond farming to inspire individuals within the natural food and lifestyle movements.

Masanobu Fukuoka was an outspoken advocate of the value of observing nature's principles.

Masanobu Fukuoka was born on 2 February 1913 in Iyo, Ehime, Japan, the second son of Kameichi Masanobu Fukuoka, an educated and wealthy land owner and local leader.

Masanobu Fukuoka attended Gifu Prefecture Agricultural College and trained as a microbiologist and agricultural scientist, beginning a career as a research scientist specialising in plant pathology.

Masanobu Fukuoka worked at the Plant Inspection Division of the Yokohama Customs Bureau in 1934 as an agricultural customs inspector.

Masanobu Fukuoka immediately resigned from his post as a research scientist, returning to his family's farm on the island of Shikoku in southern Japan.

From 1938, Masanobu Fukuoka began to practice and experiment with new techniques on organic citrus orchards and used the observations gained to develop the idea of "Natural Farming".

Masanobu Fukuoka stated that the experience taught him the difference between nature and non-intervention.

Masanobu Fukuoka's efforts were interrupted by World War II, during which he worked at the Kochi Prefecture agricultural experiment station on subjects including farming research and food production.

In 1940, Masanobu Fukuoka married his wife Ayako, and they had five children together.

Masanobu Fukuoka wrote his first book, Mu 1: The God Revolution, or Mu 1: Kami no Kakumei in Japanese, during the same year, and worked to spread word of the benefits of his methods and philosophy.

From 1979, Masanobu Fukuoka travelled the world extensively, giving lectures, working directly to plant seeds and re-vegetate areas, and receiving a number of awards in various countries in recognition of his work and achievements.

Masanobu Fukuoka travelled to New York City and surrounding areas such as Boston and Amherst College in Massachusetts.

Masanobu Fukuoka took the opportunity to visit farms, forests and cities giving lectures and meeting people.

Masanobu Fukuoka went to Thailand in 1990 and 1991, visiting farms and collecting seeds for re-vegetating deserts in India, which he returned to during November and December that year in an attempt to re-vegetate them.

Masanobu Fukuoka taught the making and sowing of clay seed balls in Vietnam during 1995.

Masanobu Fukuoka visited China in 2001, and in 2002 he returned again to India to speak at the "Nature as Teacher" workshop at Navdanya Farm and at Bija Vidyapeeth Earth University in Dehra Dun, Uttarakhand in northern India.

Masanobu Fukuoka died on 16 August 2008 at the age of 95, after a period of declining mobility that made him reliant on a wheelchair.

Masanobu Fukuoka called his agricultural philosophy, most commonly translated into English as "natural farming".

Masanobu Fukuoka saw farming not just as a means of producing food but as an aesthetic and spiritual approach to life, the ultimate goal of which was "the cultivation and perfection of human beings".

Masanobu Fukuoka re-invented and advanced the use of clay seed balls.

In 1988, Masanobu Fukuoka received the Visva-Bharati University's Desikottam Award as well as the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service in the Philippines, often considered "Asia's Nobel Prize".

In 1998, Masanobu Fukuoka received a grant of US$10,000 from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, but the grant was returned because his advanced age prevented him from completing the project.

Masanobu Fukuoka's books are considered both farming compendiums and guides to a way of life.

The One-Straw Revolution has been translated into over 20 languages and sold more than one million copies and Masanobu Fukuoka has been widely influential, inspiring an international movement of individuals discovering and applying his principles to varying degrees, such as Akinori Kimura, David Mas Masumoto and Yoshikazu Kawaguchi, and has significantly influenced alternative movements in the West, such as permaculture.

Masanobu Fukuoka then organised a visit by Fukuoka to the Kut Chum District of Yasothon Province in northeastern Thailand, which, together with his books, were influential in the rapid and widespread adoption of organic and chemical-free rice farming in the district.

Masanobu Fukuoka's techniques have proven difficult to apply, even on most Japanese farms, and have been described as a sophisticated approach despite their simple appearance.

Many of Masanobu Fukuoka's principles are now being incorporated into modern forms of farming that are more biodiverse, less reliant on chemicals and machines, and which produce similar yields while increasing the health of the soil and surrounding environment.

In Japan, where Masanobu Fukuoka had few followers or associates, his critics argue that the "inner world and the connection between humans and nature does not exhaust reality" and that he did not give sufficient attention to interpersonal relationships or society.