Satoyama: Japan's Secret Water Garden - Documentary Discussions

Japan is a country of steep mountains surrounding wide flat plains where people have lived for thousands of years. On the largest plain lies the country’s largest freshwater lake, Lake Biwa, which is not far from Japan’s ancient capital city of Kyoto. The slopes that stretch down towards the lake have been terraced with meticulously constructed paddy fields, some of which have been cultivated continuously for thousands of years.

This is a land that has been ruled for centuries by the demands of the rice, yet it’s still dominated by the rhythmic cycle of the seasons. Here is a landscape that the Japanese people hold so close to their hearts that they have a special word for it: satoyama.

A series of documentary film viewings followed by a discussion to explore a wide variety of topics and matters of interest. Held on the last Saturday of the month.