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- Satoyama, the Sacred Feminine, and the Wabi-Sabi Aesthetic
- A Demographic Transition, Indeed
- Lessons from Pre-Industrial Japan
- Could Japan Return to an Edo Period Lifestyle by 2050?
- Ecosystem Services as a Concept is Gaining Currency
- A nuke-free Japan in the near term?
- Coexisting with Nature: Reflections after the Devastating 2011 Earthquake in Japan
- Japan should look to satoyama and satoumi for inspiration – A new article on Our World 2.0
- Tight Web Saves Cut-Off Japanese Villages
- A letter from Sendai
- To Serve the Ecosystems that Serve Us
- Further signs of change in Japan: Portent or promise?
- From Ecosystem Services to Gift Culture: An Overdue Change in Perspective
- UNEP says “Satoyama may prove to be one of Japan’s most important exports”
- Ecosystem Services – A transitional concept?
- Village Simplicity – Ideal or Real?
- A Taste of Living Oneness
- How important is worldview?
- Where is the spirit?
- Finding simplicity on the other side of complexity
- When nature is an abstraction it’s easy to take it for granted
- A classic documentary, NHK’s Satoyama: Japan’s Secret Watergarden, narrated by David Attenborough
- Japan’s strength, and future, is rooted in their ancient connection to nature
- For the “ama” free divers of Japan, the sacred feminine remains central
- A subtle but profound shift appears to be taking place in the Japanese psyche
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Satoyama Spirit 
Posted by hilary hart on August 8, 2010 at 8:33 am
these images are so beautiful and evoke a genuine longing for this kind of life in the united states. thanks for posting these. just spectacular, they are almost dreamlike. but the real kind of dreams… deep, harmonious, from the soul.
Posted by Pablo Figueroa on October 7, 2010 at 9:53 am
Alan,
These are very beautiful and evocative pictures. Thanks for sharing them!
Pablo
Posted by cynthia loebig on November 3, 2010 at 4:26 pm
thank you for posting these beautiful photos. indeed they do stir such deep longing for a more respectful and grateful way of life in harmony with nature and with each other. The book you suggested, “A DIFFERENT KIND OF LUXURY: Japanese Lessons in Simple Living and Inner Abundance” by Andy Couturier does this as well in its profiles of 11 Japanese people who have chosen to live a more conscious and traditional life with a deep understanding of satoyama spirit.
Posted by Jiuson on November 19, 2010 at 9:16 pm
Nice pictures. These are how Japanese live together with nature. Lately, I have been visiting forest a lot. There are three coal oven made by soil in order to make coal for fire such as cooking or bath. There are so many coal oven in each houses in Japan. However, they are almost broken down. Because no one take over it. It won’t make any money. That is why, young age won’t face to the past. This is serious problems. So, I have decided to take over as long as I can. I will visit those places to see and feel how they live together with nature. I will try to talk about more Japanese culture, nature and agriculture.
thanks