Noto’s Satoyama and Satoumi

The Noto Peninsula of Ishikawa Prefecture projects out into the Sea of Japan and is surrounded by water on three sides. Most of the peninsula is hill country with an elevation of 200 to 500 meters. This area consisting of four cities and five towns* is known as the Noto area. A variety of land use and techniques that make the most of the topography have been passed down to the present day, including terraced rice fields carved into the slopes (notably, those of Shiroyone Senmaida), paddy fields using the valleys, and more than 1,800 irrigation ponds for agricultural water use. Recognizing the area’s heritage of traditional agriculture, forestry, and fisheries and farm-village culture, including traditional technologies and festivals, as well as beautiful scenery, in June 2011 the FAO designated this area as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System, the first such designation in Japan.
See "Noto’s Satoyama and Satoumi"HIGHLIGHTING Japan,October 2021.