たねの里「のや」 – Noya Village

たねの里「のや」

Noya Villageは、湯布院から電車で一駅。車での、13分でいける里山にあります。筑後川の源流と豊かな赤土に恵まれたこの中山間地の集落で、多くの人々が、自給自足に近い暮らしを続けています。

昭和年代まで、日本で販売されていたタネはそのほとんどが固定種でした。野矢では、タネを買うことはほとんどなく、あらゆる作物はタネをとって蒔いていました。いまも70代以上のお年寄りは、自家用にと、小さな畑でキュウリやカボチャ、大豆などを作って、あたりまえにタネを取っています。しかし、その下の世代、戦後生まれの層から、タネは買って当然のものになりました

そんな先人たちの暮らしが途絶えないように、この土地を、たねの里「のや」と名付け、昔の人たちがしてきたタネとりや在来野菜の栽培を、再び普通のことにするための試みを始めました。

Noya Villageでは、自給自足の村を目指し、固定種野菜や在来米を育て、タネを採り、土地にあう種を保存する取り組みを行っています。種から考える日本の自給率は、1%(1/100)。食は、買うものではなく、育て作るものにしていくこと。つまり自らの自給率をあげることが、Noya Villageの目標です。

里山の自然にふれながら、食べ物をつくり、種を採ることで、食べること、つまり、生きることに繋がっている、と感じられる村へ。

Noya Villageでは、代々多くの人々が築きあげた土地、畑、家をはじめ、その環境で育つ多種多様な生き物たちも、宝物です。

 

The village of seeds “Noya”

Noya village is located on the mountains. It is one station away from Yufuin by train. And it takes 13 minutes from Yufuin by car.
This village exists in the semi-mountainous area hence has a magnificent nature such as the source of Tikugo-river and rich red soil. Most of the people have been living a self-efficient life style in this village.

In Japan, most of the seeds which had been sold until Shouwa era was open pollinated seeds. On the contrary, in Noya village people seldom buy seeds, they take and sow the seeds to grow their crops.
Even now, elderly people(more than 70 years old) still take and sow the seeds to grow the vegetable such as cucumber, pumpkin, and beans for home consumption. However, the generations (after the world war II) came to buying the seeds as a matter of course.

We have named this place the village of seeds “Noya” so as not to come to an end predecessor’s life style. Moreover, we have started to attempt to get back the lifestyle including cultivation of native vegetable, taking the seeds which our predecessor used to.

In Noya Village, we are working on the activities that growing up the open pollinated vegetables and native rices, taking the seeds, and preserving the seeds which suit this place in order to make this village self-sufficient. Considering the ways of seeds, Japanese food self-supporting ratio is only 1%. We are not thinking the foods to buy but to grow up.
Therefore, Noya Village’s purpose is to increase our food self-supporting ratio. We would like to make this village to be able to feel connected directly to life by making foods and taking seeds. Further, there are a lot of invaluable treasure in Noya Village such as the land which have been cultivated by many ancestors, farms, houses, and various creatures which living under the rich nature environment.