A mountain village in Shikoku

Shikoku, one of 4 bigger islands of Japan is very much mountainous island. This village is only 1 hour drive away from Tokushima city, but already surrounded by steep slope.

Kamikatsu, Tokushima, Japan, June 2007
NikonD70s/Nikkor18-200

-----------------------------

There is little flat on the river bed, so people find small flat slope and built terraced water paddy fields. As the same in most of Asian mountainous area, they have been keeping elaborate water management system for cultivation, then here and there small and swift ditch or gutter streams are running.

Above the paddy field, they cultivate upland crops, then fruits, On the mountain slope, after the world war 2, they changed fuel wood forest to cedar forest hoping much more profit for their life.