Influence of cultural factors on landscapes of mountainous farm villages in western Japan

The landscapes of two different mountainous farm villages, Higashi-Iyayama in Shikoku and Hiwa in western Honshu, Japan, have been studied to clarify both the causes for change and the changes in landscape heterogeneity in relation to traditional land uses and the ensuing changes in land use. Until the 1950s, agriculture was the most important factor in the creation of landscape heterogeneities; grass mowing produced organic fertilizer in both villages and slash-and-burn agriculture was carried out in Higashi-Iyayama. These usages have been almost abolished over the last 40 years, owing to social changes such as depopulation. Some areas of grassland and slash-and-burn agricultural fields have been transformed into conifer plantations. Other areas have been completely abandoned and changed into deciduous forests, through the process of succession. A mosaic landscape, composed of conifer plantations and deciduous forests, has become established in the abandoned agricultural areas.