ABSTRACT
Historically, agriculture in Japan has been divided into upland crops and lowland rice paddies. Both uplands and lowlands are ecological areas subsumed under the term "plains," but their constituents are radically different. Once wet rice agriculture was initiated in Japan, paddy field construction greatly modified the natural topography of lowland Japan. Japan, however, also has clear east-west differences in climate. It is a monsoonal country with seasonal influences of oceanic and continental regimes. In the summer, onshore winds from the Pacific Ocean bring heavy rain in June and typhoons from July through September; in winter, offshore winds from the continent bring cold air down from Siberia. The okuyama forests of Japan are dense, but their composition has changed over the centuries. Because of its tectonic setting, Japan is subject to four major natural disruptions: earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, and tsunamis. In sum, Japan well deserves its tourist poster image, once one gets beyond the large cities, at least.
