1
Overview
Ryusuke Hatano, Hitoshi Shinjo, and Yusuke Takata
Abstract
This chapter provides the overview of soil types, land
uses, and land managements of Japan. The soils of Japan
are immature soils developed from the flesh parent
materials such as volcanic tephra or ejecta or eroded or
deposited materials in various landscapes from mountain
terrain to alluvial plains within about 10,000 years.
Japanese soils are generally acidic, since the basic cations
of soils are leached by the high precipitation of the
monsoon climate. According to the soil classification
system of Japan newly developed in 2017, Brown Forest
soils, Andosols, Fluvic soils, Red-Yellow soils, and
Regosols cover 33.2, 30.3, 13.7, 7.6, and 6.9% of the
country, respectively. In land uses of Japan in 2016,
forests occupy 63.5% of the total land area of Japan
(37.8 million ha). Cultivated land area was 4.47 million
ha, which accounts for 12.0%. However, the cultivated
land area has continuously decreased from 6.08 million
ha in 1961. In Japan, from 1959 to 1978, the Fundamental
Soil Survey for Soil Fertility Conservation was carried
out and classified the crop production potential of
cultivated land soils into four grades. Based on the
results of the soil survey, field improvements have been
performed to ameliorate the limiting factors for crop
production. This has made it possible to set the fertilization standards for each crop in each region. The
fertilization standards are defined as the amount of
fertilizer that achieves the target yield without causing
environmental issues and are the bases of the environmentally friendly agriculture. Based on the efforts in each
region, in 1999, Japanese government enacted the Act on
Promotion of Introduction of Sustainable Agricultural
Production Practices.
Keywords
Environmentally friendly agriculture Á Field
improvement Á Land uses Á Land managements Á Soil
survey Á Fertilization standard
1.1 Climate, Landscapes, Geology, and Soils
of Japan
Japan is located in East Asia. According to the variations in
climate, landscapes, geology, and soils, Japanese cultural
regions are divided into six regions: (1) Hokkaido;
(2) Tohoku; (3) Kanto and Koushinetsu; (4) Tokai and
Hokuriku; (5) Kinki, Chugoku, and Shikoku; and
(6) Kyushu and Okinawa. Each of these regions has developed its own agricultural management practices (Fig. 1.1).
1.1.1 Climate
Japan is generally rainy with a monsoon climate, but it also
has a wide vertical and horizontal distribution of land. Japan
is located at 20°25′31″–45°33′26″ N and elevations range
from about 0 m to over 3000 m above sea level. These
variations give rise to six major climate regions in Japan:
(1) Hokkaido; (2) the Nansei (or “Southwest”) Islands;
(3) the Sea of Japan side; the (4) the Pacific Ocean side;
(5) the Central Highlands; and (6) the Seto Inland Sea. The
climate of Hokkaido basically features low temperature and
low precipitation; the mean annual temperature and mean
annual precipitation are 6.3 °C and 1013 mm, respectively.
R. Hatano (&)
Research Faculty of Agriculture, Hokkaido University,
Sapporo City, Hokkaido, Japan
e-mail: hatano@chem.agr.hokudai.ac.jp
H. Shinjo
Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto
University, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan
Y. Takata
Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, NARO,
Tsukuba City, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
R. Hatano et al. (eds.), The Soils of Japan, World Soils Book Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8229-5_1
3
Overview
Ryusuke Hatano, Hitoshi Shinjo, and Yusuke Takata
Abstract
This chapter provides the overview of soil types, land
uses, and land managements of Japan. The soils of Japan
are immature soils developed from the flesh parent
materials such as volcanic tephra or ejecta or eroded or
deposited materials in various landscapes from mountain
terrain to alluvial plains within about 10,000 years.
Japanese soils are generally acidic, since the basic cations
of soils are leached by the high precipitation of the
monsoon climate. According to the soil classification
system of Japan newly developed in 2017, Brown Forest
soils, Andosols, Fluvic soils, Red-Yellow soils, and
Regosols cover 33.2, 30.3, 13.7, 7.6, and 6.9% of the
country, respectively. In land uses of Japan in 2016,
forests occupy 63.5% of the total land area of Japan
(37.8 million ha). Cultivated land area was 4.47 million
ha, which accounts for 12.0%. However, the cultivated
land area has continuously decreased from 6.08 million
ha in 1961. In Japan, from 1959 to 1978, the Fundamental
Soil Survey for Soil Fertility Conservation was carried
out and classified the crop production potential of
cultivated land soils into four grades. Based on the
results of the soil survey, field improvements have been
performed to ameliorate the limiting factors for crop
production. This has made it possible to set the fertilization standards for each crop in each region. The
fertilization standards are defined as the amount of
fertilizer that achieves the target yield without causing
environmental issues and are the bases of the environmentally friendly agriculture. Based on the efforts in each
region, in 1999, Japanese government enacted the Act on
Promotion of Introduction of Sustainable Agricultural
Production Practices.
Keywords
Environmentally friendly agriculture Á Field
improvement Á Land uses Á Land managements Á Soil
survey Á Fertilization standard
1.1 Climate, Landscapes, Geology, and Soils
of Japan
Japan is located in East Asia. According to the variations in
climate, landscapes, geology, and soils, Japanese cultural
regions are divided into six regions: (1) Hokkaido;
(2) Tohoku; (3) Kanto and Koushinetsu; (4) Tokai and
Hokuriku; (5) Kinki, Chugoku, and Shikoku; and
(6) Kyushu and Okinawa. Each of these regions has developed its own agricultural management practices (Fig. 1.1).
1.1.1 Climate
Japan is generally rainy with a monsoon climate, but it also
has a wide vertical and horizontal distribution of land. Japan
is located at 20°25′31″–45°33′26″ N and elevations range
from about 0 m to over 3000 m above sea level. These
variations give rise to six major climate regions in Japan:
(1) Hokkaido; (2) the Nansei (or “Southwest”) Islands;
(3) the Sea of Japan side; the (4) the Pacific Ocean side;
(5) the Central Highlands; and (6) the Seto Inland Sea. The
climate of Hokkaido basically features low temperature and
low precipitation; the mean annual temperature and mean
annual precipitation are 6.3 °C and 1013 mm, respectively.
R. Hatano (&)
Research Faculty of Agriculture, Hokkaido University,
Sapporo City, Hokkaido, Japan
e-mail: hatano@chem.agr.hokudai.ac.jp
H. Shinjo
Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto
University, Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan
Y. Takata
Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, NARO,
Tsukuba City, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021
R. Hatano et al. (eds.), The Soils of Japan, World Soils Book Series,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8229-5_1
3