As the world increasingly shifts toward volatility and uncertainty — from the rise of AI to escalating social, political, and global tensions, and biodiversity loss driven by the climate crisis — what does it mean to live meaningfully and coexist with all beings? This central question is one that all students in the Meaningful Life: Art, Digital, and Field-based Learning seminar (referred to as the Meaningful Life seminar from here on), funded by the university under its three-year Innovative Education Grant, are invited to explore as they seek their own answers through fieldwork in Kameoka, Kyoto, and Sado Island, Niigata. During their fieldwork, students hear first-hand the local stories and knowledge, as well as the challenges faced by local communities and their people, while also learning how industries, government, academia, and the community collaborate (産官学民連携 in Japanese) to address these challenges.
As the seminar entered its second year, two students from the first cohort volunteered as helpers to assist the seminar and enhance the learning experience for the second cohort, drawing on their own experiences from the first year of the seminar. Last July, they went on a research trip with Professor Takeshi Ito and Research Assistant Kyungil Kim to explore potential opportunities to expand their field site and collaborate with local initiatives, scholars, and citizens on a broader scale. This blog post reflects on their research trip to Sado Island, taken prior to the second cohort’s excursion.
Meeting with Professor Mitsuyo Toyoda of the Sado Island for Ecological Sustainability, Chief of the Office for Community Design
In the first year of the Meaningful Life seminar, our field site on Sado Island was primarily based in a small fishing village on the northern tip of the island called Kitaushima, where we explored the local community's relationship with nature and learned about the challenges of preserving local culture and the farming/fishing industry, particularly in the face of an aging population and rural depopulation driven by youth leaving the village. Although we gained valuable insights into these issues from the local people’s perspectives, we realized that a better understanding of the government and other institutions’ roles and efforts in addressing these challenges was missing. To help future students gain a holistic understanding of Sado’s ecosystem and the potential of cross-sector collaboration for sustainable solutions, we began researching initiatives in the island's central region as possible field sites for future students. This effort led to the discovery of the Sado Island Center for Ecological Sustainability.
The Sado Island Center for Ecological Sustainability (SICES), established by Niigata University in 2019, focuses on research and education to support the island's diverse ecosystems and community engagement. The center includes four offices categorized by their key areas of work, including forest regeneration (University Forest), ecological restoration (Station for Toki and Ecological Restoration), marine biodiversity conservation (Marine Biological Station), and regional revitalization (Office for Community Design). Our team reached out to Professor Mitsuyo Toyoda, chief officer of the Office for Community Design, to learn how SICES addresses local sustainability challenges and works to strengthen community resilience.
Originally from Tokyo, Professor Toyoda has been working on regional revitalization and conservation on Sado Island since 2015. Drawing from her expertise in dialogue education, consensus building, and environmental education, she has collaborated with local citizens to design systems that promote ecological governance. In particular, she emphasizes the critical role of dialogue in creating inclusive spaces where all voices are heard, fostering a collaborative effort to build a shared vision for the community’s future.
Professor Toyoda shared the sustainability challenges facing Sado Island and how her team is addressing the issues. She noted that many children leave for better opportunities in urban cities without recognizing the unique resources of their home, leaving fewer young people to contribute to revitalization efforts. Those who stay often struggle to innovate in their work and community, with some facing issues like futōkō (school nonattendance). In response, she has been working to integrate "Philosophy for Children" (P4C) and Project-based Learning (PBL) into Sado's school system to foster critical thinking, collaboration, and problem-solving through dialogue and real-world projects among the island's youth.
She has also been working closely with local initiatives like Rizemu, a third-space community established under The Japan Foundation’s “Children's Third Place Creation Program (Community-based)” (日本財団の「子ども第三の居場所づくり事業（コミュニティ型）」) , where children can feel safe, valued, and supported beyond the home and school environment. Our team also visited this small community after meeting with Professor Toyoda and witnessed how local communities are initiating small yet impactful changes for the children and their families.
From our visits to the SICES, one of our biggest takeaways was the challenge of building trust among people from different sectors when working toward a sustainable future. As Professor Toyoda mentioned, it took years for her efforts to introduce consensus-building through dialogue to be recognized and practiced by the communities on Sado Island, especially as someone who was initially an outsider to the island. This led our team to reflect: Why are we building connections with local communities in Sado, given the limited span of this 3-year seminar? What role do we, as university students from Tokyo, have in Sado’s sustainability efforts, and what values can we bring? These served as guiding questions as we prepared for the class field trip in August. We hope to visit Professor Toyoda and the SICES with future students to deepen our understanding and involvement in Sado's sustainability efforts.
Meeting with Natural Farmer Taro Honma in Washizaki Hamlet
When you travel from the central and southern parts of Sado Island to the northern parts, a stark contrast emerges. The central and southern areas attract many tourists, who are drawn to historical and cultural landmarks such as the Sado Gold Mine, a recently registered UNESCO World Heritage site. Meanwhile, the northern hamlets, like Kitaushima, tell a different story. These communities are sparsely populated, with most residents aged 60 or older — a demographic trend typical of Japan’s genkai shūraku, or marginal villages on the brink of disappearing. While we usually spend time in Kitaushima and Masaragawa with the Meaningful Life class, on this trip, we visited Washizaki, a hamlet at the island’s northernmost tip.
In Washizaki, we met individuals deeply connected to the land and its traditions. Among them were two artists: a shodō (Japanese calligraphy) teacher who recently moved to Sado with her daughter through an island exchange program, and a painter and grass weaver who regularly visits from mainland Niigata. We also had a memorable encounter with a natural farmer named Taro Honma (Honma-san), whose family has lived in Washizaki for generations, tracing their roots in Sado back to the 1500s.
Honma-san welcomed us into his home and shared his philosophy of natural farming, rooted in the principle of “local production for local consumption” (地産地消). His approach emphasizes utilizing Washizaki’s local resources, encapsulated in his words: “Doing what is only possible here; doing what we can because we are here” (「ここでなければできないこと。こんなところでもできること。」). Building on this philosophy, Honma-san created his own rice brand called “Sea Rice” (海米), which is grown using the AMES Cycle — a sustainable farming method that transforms fish remains, seaweed, and grass clippings into nutrient-rich fertilizers through fermentation.
Walking through his fields, we saw (and smelled!) this philosophy in action. A sharp, pungent smell filled the air, wafting from compost piles layered with fish carcasses and seaweed. Honma-san pairs this with natural mulching techniques, using grass cuttings and rice husks from his fields to enrich the soil. He proudly pointed out that his fields are free of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. By integrating local materials and traditional ecological knowledge, Honma-san’s approach nurtures the soil, supports biodiversity, and strengthens the connection between farming and fishing traditions.
Environmentally friendly farming practices in Sado are closely tied to efforts to conserve the toki, or Japanese crested ibis — a protected bird that once went extinct in Japan. The toki has become a symbol of the island, with both government-funded programs and citizen-led initiatives promoting organic farming to support habitat restoration. However, Honma-san challenged us to look beyond this iconic species. “What about the rest of the ecosystem?” he asked. “Are there dragonflies, fireflies, and other signs of a thriving environment?” For Honma-san, true ecological health isn’t measured by the presence of a single species but by the coexistence of a multitude of life forms.
Our visit to Washizaki was a reminder of the entangled relationships between humans and nature. Honma-san’s natural farming philosophy embodies a way of life rooted in reciprocity and respect for the land and sea. His dedication to circulating local resources and situating human communities within this cycle made the abstract concept of sustainability suddenly feel tangible, helping us to understand it as something that is deeply tied to place.
Our research trip broadened our perspectives and deepened our understanding of the challenges facing Sado Island. We learned about many innovative projects on the island, as well as about the efforts of individuals like natural farming activist Honma-san, who models a lifestyle rooted in ecological regeneration and circularity. Through these valuable insights and connections, we hope to further enhance the learning experiences for future classes visiting Sado, helping to continue building a meaningful exchange between students and the island’s communities.
Written by Wei-Yi (Zoe) Lee and Mana Short
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