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A review by aksmith92
The One-Straw Revolution by Masanobu Fukuoka
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Yay—my first nonfiction book of the year, and honestly, my first nonfiction book in about two years! This book came highly recommended by my lovely husband, a smaller-scale vegetable farmer. Therefore, I had to give it a try.
The setup: Masanobu Fukuoka, a Japanese farmer and philosopher, had his ideas translated into this little gem of a book, The One Straw Revolution. As a huge proponent of natural farming, or "do-nothing farming," he preached no tilling, herbicides, pesticides, and other industrial methods to agriculture. This book's premise was that where he was in Japan, you could use only straw to help rice grow and prosper instead of flooding it or using other mechanisms introduced primarily after the Industrial Revolution. He showed that farmers could get the same yield in their rice production this way and do a lot less work.
Even though this book, at first, may seem like an 181-page book about rice farming, it was not! Yes, Fukuoka talks about natural practices for rice, rye, barley, citrus, and vegetables, but this was also an account of philosophy and the human condition. Fukuoka took great interest in his (and others') connection to nature and felt we were gradually moving away from being close to nature, which is needed to feed ourselves.
Fukuoka shared insights about his incredible farming techniques while also inputting thoughts on life and what it means to be human.
What I loved: This was incredibly thought-provoking. Philosophy, in any way, is complex to grasp at times, or at the very minimum, there will be pieces of it that you love and others that you hate. But Fukuoka's philosophy on life and farming was simple. There isn't much to it. And he knows that there is likely more to it, but why go through all that thought? He aimed to simplify everything and enjoy himself while on this Earth. The man lived to be 95 years old! I think it should be said that maybe he is right. I can't speak to much else besides the fact that this book brought out all the good vibes - Fukuoka was funny and inspirational. There is something incredibly beautiful about reading about someone who cared so deeply for nature and the ground we live on. The simplicity of it all made my heart happy. It was a beautiful take on life, even when life is forever challenging. Plus, it was very cool to read about someone doing natural farming and being successful at it. It's possible - to have high yields, charge the right price, and be happy and content with your life. While you'll notice that my critique of this book also includes how this was a limiting view of the world and most certainly not the whole picture, it was amazing to read about someone trying to make things easier in any way possible. I firmly believe that we as a society have shied away from spiritualism (note: not religion), and it is one (of many) reasons why maybe we have removed ourselves and our connection from the Earth. I loved how Fukuoka talked about this concept.
What would have made it five stars? The book repeatedly states that many of the farming practices Fukuoka discusses are very applicable to places in Japan but much tougher to implement in North America or elsewhere in the world. This is not a dig at the book—I just want people to know this before reading!
However, what challenged my rating was that Fukuoka seemed to be absolutist. He was adamant that education is unnecessary and science isn't helpful. He didn't believe in "work" or even really death! At one point, even Fukuoka said he understood that sometimes this type of thinking is a bit ironic in other ways. However, I, as an inherently curious person, felt like this view could be limiting at times, and there is beauty in feeling way more connected to nature while still utilizing science in other ways. Regardless, I still take Fukuoka's point and think it's important to understand that "out-technology-ing" nature isn't a thing, and going back to roots is much more vital than another device.
Additionally, it felt like Fukuoka aimed to return to how things were before the Industrial Revolution. Almost like, hey, time to go off grid! While I love it in theory, in practicality, it's a limiting perspective, especially 40+ years after this book was written. Many folks do not have the luxury of just dropping everything to become farmers and live off the land, and this book makes it seem easy when it's a little bit more complicated than that. However, I had to remind myself that this was a perspective, and Fukuoka was intending to be a bit absolutist and understood that maybe this view was limiting. You had to read through the lines to get the meaning. So, I decided that while I want to recognize this as a critique, I still value the message in the details.
Lastly, it was hard for me to keep up with the small farming section - it was pretty technical regarding how he does rice and citrus farming. Don't get me wrong, this was important!! And, others will be super interested. Unfortunately, I struggled through the rice farming section, even if it wasn't long.
But, overall, this was a fantastic book, filled to the brim with thought-provoking ideas about how to live in the natural world as natural animals (because, after all, we are animals!). Some of my favorite quotes are below.
The setup: Masanobu Fukuoka, a Japanese farmer and philosopher, had his ideas translated into this little gem of a book, The One Straw Revolution. As a huge proponent of natural farming, or "do-nothing farming," he preached no tilling, herbicides, pesticides, and other industrial methods to agriculture. This book's premise was that where he was in Japan, you could use only straw to help rice grow and prosper instead of flooding it or using other mechanisms introduced primarily after the Industrial Revolution. He showed that farmers could get the same yield in their rice production this way and do a lot less work.
Even though this book, at first, may seem like an 181-page book about rice farming, it was not! Yes, Fukuoka talks about natural practices for rice, rye, barley, citrus, and vegetables, but this was also an account of philosophy and the human condition. Fukuoka took great interest in his (and others') connection to nature and felt we were gradually moving away from being close to nature, which is needed to feed ourselves.
Fukuoka shared insights about his incredible farming techniques while also inputting thoughts on life and what it means to be human.
What I loved: This was incredibly thought-provoking. Philosophy, in any way, is complex to grasp at times, or at the very minimum, there will be pieces of it that you love and others that you hate. But Fukuoka's philosophy on life and farming was simple. There isn't much to it. And he knows that there is likely more to it, but why go through all that thought? He aimed to simplify everything and enjoy himself while on this Earth. The man lived to be 95 years old! I think it should be said that maybe he is right. I can't speak to much else besides the fact that this book brought out all the good vibes - Fukuoka was funny and inspirational. There is something incredibly beautiful about reading about someone who cared so deeply for nature and the ground we live on. The simplicity of it all made my heart happy. It was a beautiful take on life, even when life is forever challenging. Plus, it was very cool to read about someone doing natural farming and being successful at it. It's possible - to have high yields, charge the right price, and be happy and content with your life. While you'll notice that my critique of this book also includes how this was a limiting view of the world and most certainly not the whole picture, it was amazing to read about someone trying to make things easier in any way possible. I firmly believe that we as a society have shied away from spiritualism (note: not religion), and it is one (of many) reasons why maybe we have removed ourselves and our connection from the Earth. I loved how Fukuoka talked about this concept.
What would have made it five stars? The book repeatedly states that many of the farming practices Fukuoka discusses are very applicable to places in Japan but much tougher to implement in North America or elsewhere in the world. This is not a dig at the book—I just want people to know this before reading!
However, what challenged my rating was that Fukuoka seemed to be absolutist. He was adamant that education is unnecessary and science isn't helpful. He didn't believe in "work" or even really death! At one point, even Fukuoka said he understood that sometimes this type of thinking is a bit ironic in other ways. However, I, as an inherently curious person, felt like this view could be limiting at times, and there is beauty in feeling way more connected to nature while still utilizing science in other ways. Regardless, I still take Fukuoka's point and think it's important to understand that "out-technology-ing" nature isn't a thing, and going back to roots is much more vital than another device.
Additionally, it felt like Fukuoka aimed to return to how things were before the Industrial Revolution. Almost like, hey, time to go off grid! While I love it in theory, in practicality, it's a limiting perspective, especially 40+ years after this book was written. Many folks do not have the luxury of just dropping everything to become farmers and live off the land, and this book makes it seem easy when it's a little bit more complicated than that. However, I had to remind myself that this was a perspective, and Fukuoka was intending to be a bit absolutist and understood that maybe this view was limiting. You had to read through the lines to get the meaning. So, I decided that while I want to recognize this as a critique, I still value the message in the details.
Lastly, it was hard for me to keep up with the small farming section - it was pretty technical regarding how he does rice and citrus farming. Don't get me wrong, this was important!! And, others will be super interested. Unfortunately, I struggled through the rice farming section, even if it wasn't long.
But, overall, this was a fantastic book, filled to the brim with thought-provoking ideas about how to live in the natural world as natural animals (because, after all, we are animals!). Some of my favorite quotes are below.
"It is said that there is no creature as wise as the human being. By applying this wisdom, people have become the only animals capable of nuclear war."
"If we do have a food crisis, it will not be caused by the insufficiency of nature's productive power, but by the extravagance of human desire."
"Nature is in constant transition, changing from moment to moment. People cannot grasp nature's true appearance. The face of nature is unknowable. Trying to capture the unknowable is like trying to catch the wind in a butterfly net."
"Let us say that the key to peace lies close to the Earth."
"Mr. Fukuoka has understood that we cannot isolate one aspect of life from another. When we change the way we grow our food, we change our foods, we change society, we change our values."
"Mr. Fukuoka believes that natural farming proceeds from the spiritual health of the individual. He considers the healing of the land and the purification of the human spirit to be one process, and he proposes a way of life and a way of farming in which this process can take place."
"It is the same with the scientist, he pours over books night and day, straining his eyes and becoming nearsighted, and if you wonder what on earth he has been working on all that time - it is to become the inventor of eyeglasses to correct nearsightedness."
"Before researchers become researchers, they should become philosophers. They should consider what the human goal is, what it is that humanity should create."
"The ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings."