In the 1930s, while recovering from a severe attack of pneumonia, Masanobu Fukuoka experienced a moment of satori or personal enlightenment.
At the time of his revelation, Fukuoka was living in a Japan that was abandoning its traditional farming methods and adopting Western agriculture, economic and industrial models. He saw how this trend was driving the Japanese even further from a oneness with nature, and how destructive and polluting those practices were. As a result, he quit his job as a research scientist and returned to his father’s farm on Shikoku determined to restore the land to a condition that would enable nature’s original harmony to prevail. To Fukuoka, farming was a spiritual path.
Through 30 years of refinement he was able to develop a “do-nothing” method of farming. Without soil cultivation such as plowing or tilling, chemical fertilizers, pesticides, weeding, pruning, machinery or compost, Fukuoka was able to produce high-quality fruit, vegetables and grains with yields equal to or greater than even large commercial farms.
In his 60’s, Fukuoka documented what he had seen and done. In 1975 his first book “One Straw Revolution” was released and has had a profound impact on agriculture and human consciousness all over the world.
