Little Farmers Camp to raise ability to think and act.

The Little Famers Learning Center aims to not only provide children from urban areas opportunities to experience the life and nature in satoyama, but to also give children from farming families a chance to rediscover the surrounding nature and living organisms. This program also teaches children the power to live, in other words survival skills and the ability to adapt. In 2016, the Kumamoto Earthquake hit Japan, and in response we named the camp the “Summer Camp for Little Farmers” and redesigned it to teach children from farming families about business management and philosophy, to help them discover the intrinsic strengths of farmers, and to nurture this strength. We place great importance on teaching children to think and act on their own. At the camps, the children decide what they want to do and the rules during their stay together. Adults simply help arrange, for example, the type of food the children want to eat or the resources they need for their activities. The children set aside time for adults 1 hour a day to talk about “Philosophy for Children.” For 1 hour, they were asked to talk freely and explore a specific theme in depth. On the last day of the camp in 2016, the Little Farmers Market was organized and children successfully sold products and get the sales. In 2017, we held the “Camp for Little Fishermen” in Sado-island in Niigata which is also designated as GIAHS. We definitely believe this learning camp for little farmers will be the baton to hand the rural to the next generation.