I. Introduction
Japan''s arable agricultural land is limited by the environment and the climate, and yet the country is able to produce agricultural products of excellent quality. This is due to the facts that land use and ecological energy saving-related research has now been carried out there for quite some time, the related technology has been extensively used and applied, their approaches are more creative and their information are more complete. Kyushu''s agricultural land consolidation methods are similar to those of Taiwan but agricultural waterway engineering methods put more emphasis on ecological agriculture. The slopes at the sides of agricultural roads and waterways are all grass covered, waterway environments suitable as habitats for fish species facing extinction have been created and educational and explanatory facilities have been created as well while agricultural roads are mostly uncovered, earthen roads. Kyushu''s terrain is dominated by hillsides and mountainous areas, and most of its land is planted with conifers, Japanese cypress and pine trees, giving it a green coverage rate of 90%. In recent years, efforts have been made in rural areas of Kyushu to promote the ''satoyama'' concept, in which relatively mature rural ecological communities adopt natural ecological methods, restoring the original environment, and allowing the creatures of the original habitat to survive.
II. Land Use and Ecological Protection in Kyushu
Japan''s Kyushu includes the seven prefectures of Fukuoka, Saga, and Nagasaki on the island of Kyushu (including the Goto Islands and Tsushima Island), Oita, Miyazaki, Kumamoto and Kagoshima (including the Osumi Islands and Amami Islands), and the outlying islands of Okinawa prefecture. The total population is approximately 15 million people, with an area of about 44,400 square kilometers, which if not including neighboring islands, is close to the area of Taiwan. The main agricultural products are rice, tea, tobacco, sweet potatoes and soybeans. All the islands are abundant in short and swift rivers, and the terrain is mostly mountainous with few plains, very much like that of Taiwan. In terms of administrative organization, they have a Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, which is similar to our country''s Executive Yuan Council of Agriculture. A Rural Development Office has been set up with stakeholders of rural communities for the practical needs of business promotion and development, and the Kyushu Regional Agricultural Administration Office has been established in Kyushu''s Kumamoto city. With rural community or rural area stakeholders, the Kyushu Regional Agricultural Administration Office has set up a Rural Community Planning Department (which is further divided into a Rural Development Division, Land Improvement Management Division and so on), and a Maintenance Department (which is further divided into a Design Division, Land Improvement Management Division, Water Conservation and Maintenance Division, Agricultural land Preparation and Maintenance Division, Terrestrial Land Maintenance and Preparation Division and so on). The main concerns and services of the Rural Development Office include activation of agricultural, mountain, and fishing villages, harmonious urban-rural exchange, land use in rural communities, agriculture industry and agricultural community maintenance matters, the improvement of infrastructure in rural areas, the improvement of the agriculture industry''s aquatic environment, and so on. It''s organization is complete. A summary of matters related to land use and rural ecology is as follows
(I) The Satoyama Concept
With economic development, Japan has reconsidered how to return to its previous ecological environment. Over the past dozen years or so, efforts have been put into the promotion of a ''satoyama concept'' - developing relatively mature rural ecological communities which are closest to the people living in the rural environment. Community residents adopt an organic approach, trying to avoid the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers, and reducing the use of cement. As far as possible, they try to use natural compost and utilize fallow farmland restoration, manually cultivate and restore farmland, restore streams, restore abandoned wetlands and water ditches between fields, preserve low lying pools and fish ponds, restore and activate waterways, and use other ways and means to make the rural communities as much as possible return to the original, less artificially developed state of 50 years ago. In fact, the satoyama notion was already in use as much as 30 years ago. Following its implementation in European countries, Japan also began progressively implementing it in recent years. The government and academic groups began promoting it to farmers and community residents, local residents were also able to accept it, and so the concept began to take root. Some non-profit organizations (NPO) or voluntary organizations organize their own clean-up activities according to regular or irregular schedules, and students also enthusiastically take part in these activities, while companies sponsor tree planting. NPO also asks people to give assistance to mountain area management, and thus the government spends less, with NPOs even going abroad to plant trees.
(II) Base Preparation and Maintenance Matters ─ the Example of Fukuoka Prefecture''s Takeno
Fukuoka''s Takeno district Bichizeizusporsai consolidation maintenance work - Takeno''s second land improvement district, benefiting an area of 112 hectares, with a total operating cost of approximately 1.56 billion Japanese Yen, was planned and designed in year 18 of the Heisei period (AD 2006). Since 2007 (year 19 of the Heisei period) when construction began, readjustment for each area was 26.7, 35.9, 31 and 13 hectares, respectively, up to 2010. The work’s scheduled to be completed the next year (2011). The main content of the undertaking was 112.2 hectares of land preparation work, 13,192 meters of waterways work, 8,917 meters of drainage channels, 6,532 meters of agricultural road construction and 111 hectares of drainage culverts. One standard zone was 100 meters * 250 meters, in which one branch agricultural road of 200 meters was set up. Neighboring standard zones were segmented by waterways, and every hillock area was 0.3 hectares, 30 meters * 100 meters. The area of Takeno''s second land improvement district was just over one hundred hectares. With partial funding on an annual basis, work was carried out progressively year by year, taking a total of 6 years to be completed.
(III) Protection of Endangered Fish Species
In June 1992, the Japanese government formulated relevant laws for the ''preservation of wild animals and plants facing possible extinction,'' and the Natural Environment Conservation Act stipulates that surveys of wildlife habitats and the existing natural terrestrial, inland aquatic, and marine state throughout the country should be carried out, with long-term and regular surveys, recording and saving of the results. In 1991 (year 3 of Heisei period) a freshwater fish (Latin name: Aphyocypris chinensis Gunther) was listed as endangered. It has a total length of 6 to 7 cm, and is found in the northern part of Kyushu, on the Korean Peninsula and in mainland China. The existence of the species was confirmed when found in the agricultural waterways of Kurume City''s Tanushimaru in Fukuoka Prefecture, and the next year the town designated it as natural momento. To safeguard the survival of this species, a fish conservation association planned and designed a number of natural-type waterways by one of the consolidation zone''s waterways, taking into consideration the use of earthen waterways, the depth of the water, the winter dry season conditions, designing and installing the relevant water-level discrepancy work and wooden fencing, and linking fish channels and facilities to allow the fish to hide, breed and so on. The project was completed in May 2008, with a total length of 585 meters. After breeding, the fish were released to the waterways, with 1,200, 2,700, and 1,000, for each year from 2008, respectively. After being released, the natural growth survival rate was not high, with records from carrying out fish surveys confirming the existence of only 12. And the waterways in which the species was originally found were kept in their original state, with good conditions for repopulation, and these waterways were also kept secret from the general public and foreign visitors, in order to avoid too many people going into the area and affecting the fish habitat.
(IV) The Use of Agricultural Land
With respect to agricultural land use in the prefectures of Kyushu''s Fukuoka, Oita, Nagasaki, Kumamoto, Miyazaki and Kagoshima, crop cultivation focuses on rice and wheat, but with only one season, rice planting and harvesting times vary between the north and the south; some planting is carried out in rotation, for crops such as soybean (the raw material for natto), corn, taro, and sweet potato, with some agricultural produce similar to Taiwan''s. Through on-site observations, farmland improvement takes a more ecological approach. For example, apart from the main asphalt-covered roads, most agricultural roads are uncovered earthen roads, with grass growing naturally in the middle. As for the bottom of waterways, the ditch walls consist of smaller concrete ditches with grass covered earthen slopes on both sides, some of which already have shrubs growing on them. Also, the width of most agricultural roads is within four meters, without shrubs planted. And the building of farmhouses on agricultural land is not permitted, thus there are very few single farmhouses or associated facilities to be seen. The use of land is not finely divided, and the agricultural production environment is more complete.
III.CONCLUSIONS
Land use on Japan''s Kyushu Island has its own rules. That is to say, low-lying land is farmed for crops, rural communities are concentrated settlements, while gentle slopes to stepper slopes and alpine regions are forested. Therefore, green coverage of the Kyushu landscape is good. Rural communities are also trying to use ecological engineering to retain and maintain a better ecological environment. The relevant agricultural land use and ecological protection policies are worthy of Taiwan learning from.