HempenCulture in Japan


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Introduction

Most inspiration and information for this article was discovered while traveling and living in Japan during 1992-95. I became especially interested in hemp as a globally sustainable crop option after witnessing the clear-cutting on Vancouver Island during the Clayoquot blockade actions in 1992. I quickly began looking for ways to find solutions.

After exploring around north-central Europe for a while, I went from my B.C. homeland to Japan. I first settled in Yazu-gun, Tottori-ken on the San-in (Sea of Japan) coast on South-Western Honshu where I lived in the mountains and cultivated kinoko (fungi). Mostly Shiitake and Enokitake.

Shiitake growing in the hills.


I made my way around the rural areas in the Kansai, Chugoku regions of Honshu and then travalled a portion of the O-henrosan Odori ("the pilgrim's path") a series of 88 temples and shrines on the island of Shikoku.

On my second journey, Misa Nakanishi and I traveled North along the San-In coast and spent the harvest season in Nagano-ken near the Japan Alps, living and learning the old ways from a variety of farmers, artists, crafters and hempsters. It was in this area where I began to really understand the depth of hemp's history in Japan as this was a hemp producing region until a few decades ago. During that trip I also visited the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb museum and learned some of the reasons for modern Japan's laws and how they came to be.

Soon after, while living on Micronesian Islands, I continued my inquiries into cannabis and Japanese culture, especially in Palau and Yap which were occupied by the Japanese from for several decades until the end of WW2.
I continue to pursue research into the history, usages and the potential of Hemp in Japan and invite all info, inquires and ideas.

Here's an old Grandma in the hills

Enjoy Knowledge
Dave Olson, Olympia, WA Cascadia, 1997
uncleweed@olywa.net


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See also: HEMPEN CULTURE IN JAPAN (history)

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