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Introduction
Most inspiration and information for this article was discovered while
traveling and living in Japan during 1992-95. I became especially
interested in hemp as a globally sustainable crop option after witnessing
the clear-cutting on Vancouver Island during the Clayoquot blockade
actions in 1992. I quickly began looking for ways to find solutions.
After exploring around north-central Europe for a while, I went from
my B.C. homeland to Japan. I first settled in Yazu-gun, Tottori-ken
on the San-in (Sea of Japan) coast on South-Western Honshu where I
lived in the mountains and cultivated kinoko (fungi). Mostly Shiitake
and Enokitake.
<img src="http://uncleweed.net/words/essays/hempjapan/images/shiitakethin.jpg" border="0" alt="Shiitake growing in the hills." width="506" height="132" />
I made my way around the rural areas in the Kansai, Chugoku regions
of Honshu and then traveled a portion of the O-henrosan Odori ("the
pilgrim's path") a series of 88 temples and shrines on the island
of Shikoku.
On my second journey, Misa Nakanishi and I traveled North along the
San-In coast and spent the harvest season in Nagano-ken near the Japan
Alps, living and learning the old ways from a variety of farmers,
artists, crafters and hempsters. It was in this area where I began
to really understand the depth of hemp's history in Japan as this
was a hemp producing region until a few decades ago. During that trip
I also visited the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb museum and learned some of
the reasons for modern Japan's laws and how they came to be.
Soon after, while living on Micronesian Islands, I continued my inquiries
into cannabis and Japanese culture, especially in Palau and Yap which
were occupied by the Japanese from for several decades until the end
of WW2. I continue to pursue research into the history, usages and
the potential of Hemp in Japan and invite all info, inquires and ideas.
<img src="http://uncleweed.net/words/essays/hempjapan/images/obaasan.JPG" border="0" alt="Here's an old Grandma in the hills" width="504" height="167" />
Enjoy Knowledge
Dave Olson, Olympia, WA Cascadia, 1997
HEMPEN CULTURE IN JAPAN
Nihon, has long been a land of mystery to outsiders. Though isolated
from the world's progress for thousands of years, Japan still managed
to import and reinvent the wisest ideas from other lands, turning
them into something all their own. Hemp is no exception.
Yet the passage of time caught the persistent cannabis sativa plant
in a confusing vise of tradition and modernization,sustainability
and rapid expansion. As Japan begins to realize it's role as a global
leader, hemp again rises from the shadows to greet the future in the
Land of the Rising Sun.
Hemp comes to Japan
Since the Neolithic Jomon period, hemp grew in Japan. The term Jomon
itself means "pattern of ropes, " which were certainly made
of hemp. Archeological evidence places hemp seeds as a food source
during this Jomon period (10,000 to 300 BC). (Marui)These hunting
and collecting people lived a civilized, comfortable existence and
used hemp for weaving clothing and basket making. (Mayuzumi) What
isn't entirely clear however, is exactly when and how the seeds arrived
in Japan.
When considering this question, it is often difficult to distinguish
the facts of history from the pervasive creation myths that make up
the Japanese religion of Shinto. Some scholars insist that hemp was
abundant in Japan before contact with China or Korea; however, impartial
analysis suggests that, like much of it's culture, hemp was almost
certainly imported and adapted by the Japanese from China.
To better determine the journey that those first hemp seeds took,
one can consider the examples of three other prominent imports which
shaped Japanese culture and indeed became standards of Japanese civilization:
Buddhism, wet-field rice and Washi paper. The history of paper is
easily traced because it was written down on paper.
The first real paper in known to have been created in China from
hemp rags by a court eunuch, Ts'ai Lun, from a mix of old hemp rags
and mulberry bark in around 100 A.D. Experiments using silk and bamboo
had been ongoing for a few decades, but most writing was done on small
wood panels. (Hughes, 40)
Paper isn't recorded into the historical record of Japan until the
7th century A.D., when Korean priests and monks delivered this new
technology to the Imperial palace in 610 A.D., along with Buddhism
and the acceptance of the Chinese writing system.
The paper that the Korean monk, Doncho, produced for his royal demonstration
was made from hemp rags and mulberry bark, as in the Chinese tradition.
The Japanese copied his technique; the skill spread rapidly throughout
Japan, with over 80 subtle varieties of paper being made throughout
Japan within 50 years. This certainly suggests hemp must have been
already long domesticated, to keep up with this rapid growth of papermaking
fueled by the spread of Buddhism and the new form of written communication.
Evidence of that vital period of Japanese history is owned by a Nihonga
painter named Haneshi. He possesses a piece of brown and slightly
brittle, pure hemp paper, dated at 770 AD. It is still intact and
he keeps it in a box with a small piece of rare incense. (Hughes,
165) It is clear that by this point in history, Korea and Japan had
had a long established relationship, since Japan maintained a territorial
foothold on Korea in the fifth and sixth century. Furthermore, there
were numerous ships traveling between China, Korea and Japan exchanging
new ideas and information even before this period.
Another Japanese staple, wet-field rice, made its way from the Middle
Kingdom to Japan around 300 BC. (Rathburn) The seed stock first went
to Korea, then was brought by traders across the narrow but rough
channel to Shimonoseki, Japan's southern island of Kyushu which is
the closest point to the Asian mainland. It is probable that hemp
made the same voyage before or around the same time. There are
reports of seeds from prehistoric periods that have been uncovered
on the island of Kyushu (Marui) which would suggest this passage definitely
took place before the common era; yet scientific dating techniques
would have a hard time putting an accurate date on such a small artifact.
In support of that theory, a cave painting found in coastal Kyushu
depicts tall stalks and hemp leaves. It too is from this Jomon period,
and indeed is one of the earliest artworks uncovered in Japan. The
richly colored painting depicts several, somewhat strangely dressed
people in baggy short-pants and tall curved hats. Horses and ocean
waves are also clearly rendered in the cave art. In all, the picture
seems to depict Korean traders bringing a plant by boat. Along the
stem of the plant are small pairs of budding leaves or branches. The
plants themselves are tall and at the top are large, distinctive,
seven-fingered hemp leaves. (Personal Collection) Surrounding the
top of this hemp plant figure is a sunlike aura suggesting the connection
between the sun and hemp in Shinto and strikingly similar to the hieroglyphic
carvings from Mediterranean cultures which show a similar sun/hemp
motif. (Bennet)
<img src="http://uncleweed.net/words/essays/hempjapan/pics/cavesm.jpg" border="0" alt="An ancient cave painting from Kyushu, Japan" width="186" height="243" />
(Click to see big picture)
Hemp in Japanese history
As time went on, more people arrived on Japanese shores from China
and Korea, some to trade, many to settle, in all taking Japanese culture
on to another period. This Yayoi period produced major changes in
Japan as "foreigners" imported more advanced practices and
quickly made the indigenous Japanese adapt their ways. Most significant
was the spread of agriculture and clan-like social arrangement.
The people of these times lived in patriarchal groups and wore clothes
made of hemp and bark, a technique which continued on for hundreds
of years. At this time also the complex Shinto system of multiple
patriarchal deity developed, as numerous clans each adopted a patron
saint. (Hooker)
By that time, hemp had successfully adapted to the Japanese climate
and spread throughout the latitudes. Even on the northern island of
Hokkaido, the indigenous Ainu made their colorful costumes from the
fiber during the Yayoi period around the 3rd century AD. (Constantine)
Thus, hemp was already a well-established crop in many parts of Japan
by the time written language was commonly used, and the first "official"
recorded history appears as the Nihon Shoki (Chronicle of Japan),
published by Crown Prince Shotoku in 710 AD (soon after the introduction
of paper making, Chinese writing and Buddhism).
Trade and communication between China, Korea and Japan faded over
the next few centuries as each country led it's own secluded path.
Japan did continue for a while to send scholars and students to learn
medicine, agriculture and science from the Chinese and bring the best
of it back home, including the Kampo (Chinese medicine) ancient pharmacopoeia
developed by Lao Tzu. This system of health and treatment utilized
many forms of the hemp plant to treat a variety of illnesses.
A translated account reads "Hemp preparations are especially
used as a laxative, to treat asthma & poisonous bites, worm animals,
counteract skin ailments and as a general tonic to promote vigor.
"(Drake)
During these centuries of feudal society, a leader emerged named Hideyoshi
Toyotomi. He came from a typical village to unite Japan. An account
of his growing up goes into some detail on daily life in the 1500's.:
"The village of Nakamura lies in the rich farming country of
southwestern Owari in the delta of the Kiso River. Cotton, hemp and
rice were cultivated there during Hideyoshi's day by a comparatively
well-off community of peasants, many of whom owned their own land."
During the feudal era, hemp cultivation was encouraged by the Daimyo
(feudal lords) wanting hempen-ware's high resale value from the wealthy
city merchants who favored hemp for making fine clothing. This brought
economic strength and power to the Daimyo of the area (who were often
in debt to the merchants) (Stearns).
The merchants had an interesting and much maligned position in feudal
society. They were ranked near the bottom of the ladder but by building
"unions" and creative marketing, they were soon the wealthiest
class. The Samurai forbid themselves to handle money as it was unclean
and despised and feared the merchants because of there increasing
wealth.
The merchants again learned the use of money from foreigners. "Merchants
dealt not in rice but in coin, and utilized four metals: gold (oban,
koban, ichibu kin), silver (chogin, mame-ita, monme), copper (zeni),and
iron. They had square holes in the center based on the Chinese system,
and were carried on strings of hemp." (Hidden Variable) (note:
the 5 yen coins still have a hole in them left over from this practice)
During this time, Japanese agriculture and social structure continued
to change despite lack of new influence from outside sources. Indeed
as the merchants and daimyo feuded, the farmers started to "unionize
to sell their hemp directly to the markets in Edo (old Tokyo).
"Cotton was not grown much before the Muromachi period and then
it seems to have been confined to mainly to Eastern Japan where growing
conditions were not particularly favorable. Toward the end of the
16th century, however cotton found its natural habitat in the Kinai,
thereafter the production of raw cotton very rapidly increased . .
.
The hemp cloth industry of Uonuma county in Echigo Province provides
an example of a different kind. This industry dated back to at least
the Nara period, when taxes were party paid by the cloth. But the
industry here achieved no considerable growth until certain innovations
in bleaching and weaving were made toward the end of the seventeenth
century. After that the output of hemp cloth increased from about
five thousand rolls to about two hundred thousand roll annually until
the end of the eighteenth century. By this time, local sources of
raw material were no longer adequate to supply producers and hemp
had to be imported from Aizu and Yonezawa." (Smith)
While the farmers were supposedly given rights and privilege by the
Samurai, they were in fact kept poor, busy and occupied with the
agricultural process which was very labor-intensive in low-tech rural
Japan. Even then, space was at a premium and the farmers began terracing
the hillsides (as learned from China).
Hemp (along with silk for the wealthy Samurai class) was the primary
source of clothing fiber until the 17th century when cotton was introduced.
Cotton began to replace hemp as the fiber crop for the new urban working
class because of high yields by heavy fertilizer use and development
of mass processing methods.(Mayuzumi)
Hemp continued to be used for a variety of specialized purposes, including
the straps of geta (high wooden sandals), long-line eel fishing lines
and packaging ropes (Mayuzumi), to name few. After short periods
of limited trade with some European countries (primarily Holland but
only on an off-shore trading zone) in the early 17th century, Japan
once again closed the bamboo curtain solidly to the west.
In 1853, American Commodore Perry and a fleet of black gunboats pried
open the ports for trade and began a new era of change, trade and
conflict.
Inside, a still feudal, warring nation scrambled to take stock of
the impact and learn the secrets of these strange "bearded barbarians".
Realizing they had been caught in a very vulnerable position, Japan
embarked on an intense, rapid industrialization. In the ensuing chaos,
the young Emperor Meiji was restored and the Samurai class dissolved.
Massive, sudden change occurred in a short time, and a nation was
restarted.
This new Meiji era sparked a period of mutual bewilderment and competitive
fascination, an awkward dance between the East and West that begat
wonderful exchanges of arts, medicine and humanity, and the brutality
of war and racism.
Japan quickly engineered trains, steamships, silk factories and mining
operations, surpassing in a few decades the growth of industry that
had taken Europe and America close to a century. Shortly after their
hasty ushering onto the world stage, Japan sent its first diplomatic
mission to USA, sailing across the Pacific only four years after first
seeing a ocean going vessel. Among the crew, serving as the
Captain Kimura's personal servant and translator, was Yukichi Fukuzawa.
He tells in his account of the journey about the crew all receiving
a pair of hemp sandals to make the passage.
He goes on to say that some crewmen were a bit embarrassed when they
arrived in San Francisco and saw how different their footwear and
customs were: "All of us wore the usual pair of swords at our
sides and the hemp
sandals. So attired we were taken to the modern hotel. . . Here the
carpet was laid over an entire room and upon this costly fabric, walked
our hosts wearing the shoes they had come in from the streets!
We followed in our hemp sandals." (Fukuzawa) Young Fukuzawa went
on to found Kieo University and inspire Japan's new educational system.
His face is now on Japan's 10,000 Yen bill.
Regardless of the fact that Japan had become a member of the world
community, the country's farmers still bore the brunt of the labor,
working long days in treacherous conditions to supply essentials for
an increasing urban population. From the humid summers to the freezing
winters, hemp provided rugged and functional clothing.
In the Meiji and Taisho eras (19th century), country-people continued
an ancient technique, combining hemp fiber with other plants like
seaweed and broom-straw to make circular, pointed hats which the wet
mountain snow would slide right off of. (Seattle Asian Arts)
These hats are really more of a solid helmet of hemp fiber intertwined
with seaweed, perhaps to let the snow slide off the sloping, conical
peak. The farmers also utilized similar materials in making pack-like,
back support pads for hauling heavy loads
down steep mountainsides. The crafting skill of the traditional artisans
endures; the term for this is You no Bi . (Seattle Asian Arts) This
tactile feeling of "beauty in utility" evokes a sense of
the rugged simplicity and deliberate, elegant workmanship that blends
so well with the hemp aesthetic.
During this same era when country people fashioned rugged workwear,
the textile artist continued using hemp to a different end. The skill
of the Japanese textile makers is seen in hemp kimono (traditional
clothing) worn especially in the summer.
Hemp became a somewhat exclusive fabric used for special garments
and upper classes. Hemp's durability allowed the same fibers to be
reused several times for recycled clothing, rags and finally paper.
As class structure made labor-intensive hemp unreachable for many,
they tried to imitate the properties with cotton.
Before the introduction of cotton to Japan, hemp fiber had already
long been in use for the weaving of cloth. (Hughes, 77)
In fact, the summer cotton kimono, the yukata, was the common person's
adaptation of the yukatabira (absorbent hemp bathrobes) the wealthy
wore to and after soaking in the hot springs. (Mayuzumi)
Hemp in Religion
In the vast journey from India to China, the teachings of the Buddha
were altered considerably, although on the trip from China to Korea
and then on to Japan, the tenets remained undiluted. However, upon
receiving this wisdom, the Japanese adapted and intertwined Buddhism
with the traditional mythological religion of Shinto.
Shinto is the ancient "way of the gods." A ritualistic expression
of profound respect for the kami (the intrinsic god-like spirit) in
nature. Plants, animals, rocks, trees all possess a sort of spirit
or reverence which can be terrifying or peaceful. In Shinto, humans
are always searching towards purity and responsibility which transcends
the traditional religious sense and into day-to-day society.
Shinto's creation stories tell of the islands that would become Japan
rising from volcanoes and hot springs. God/dess figures descended
to people the country with their direct descendants who are more cherished
than any other on Earth. Purity and fertility are paramount concepts
and from the beginning to the present, hemp is an essential symbol
of both.
In Kojiki (the Record of Ancient Matters) the story relates: After
creating the country the primal pair consulted together saying, "We
have now produced the great eight island country, with the mountains,
rivers, herbs and trees. Why should we not produce someone who shall
be lord of the Universe." (Kojiki)
This first pair then begat the founding goddess-figure, Amaterasu
Omi kami (Sun Goddess). She is enshrined at the holiest of place,
the Ise Jinja (shrine) along with the ancient sacred mirror Ameratsu
gave to her grandson when he descended from above to reign over the
eight island kingdom.
At that shrine on the Ise pennisula, the special prayer given for
the founding Goddess of Japan is calledTaima (cannabis). Further,
hemp, salt and rice are the sacred staples that are used as part of
all the rites at the shrine. (Yamada)
Indeed hemp and mulberry fiber and cloth, and paper made from them,
as well as salt, sake, and rice are offered to the gods at the Shinto
shrines.
This element of purity is stressed again as undyed hemp was an important
part for the household of the new bride. This undyed hemp came to
symbolize the womanly virutes of faithfullness, chastity and obedience.
Like the undyed cloth, an old saying goes, the woman must allow herself
to be dyed any color her husband chooses. (Hughes, 49)
In a shrine ritual, a Shinto priest shakes a short wand with hemp
attached called a gohei over the head of patrons in a cleansing ceremony.
(Robinson) Originally the actual hemp and mulberry fibers were
attached to a stick but eventually paper made from the same and cut
into distinctive zig-zag strips and attached to a sakaki branch became
standard. The priests dressed in robes made of a sort of starched
hemp paper so as to be pure to perform these purification rites. (Hughes)
Another Shinto tale tells that every October, all the dieties from
around Japan gather at a sacred site in rural Shimane prefecture (Sea
of Japan side of Honshu, south of Tottori) at Japan's largest jinja
(shrine) called Iizumo taisha. During this month, the rest of the
nation is left unprotected from calamity while the Gods hold a harvest
and match-making ritual celebration. (JNTO) Shimane-ken is far out
of the way of any urban center and, besides being "Home of the
Gods," it was the home to bounteous hemp harvests up until about
50 years ago.
Although initially widely accepted, Buddhism faded and didn't really
gain widespread acceptance again until an enterprising royal adjusted
it significantly to make it more inviting to the masses by combining
the search for enlightenment a sense with Zen asceticism (again borrowed
from the Chinese).
At Shinto Jinja (shrine), and Buddhist Tera (temple) certain objects
are symbolically made from hemp. For example, the leg-thick bell ropes
must be hempen, as is the noren (a short curtain), which acts as a
symbolic purification "veil", meant to cause evil spirits
to flee from the body as the head brushes lightly under the short
curtain.
It is in death that Shinto and Buddhism mix into a braid. The relatives
continue to visit the graves leaving offerings and praying in the
Buddhist way. Yet at home, a family shrine with the departed's picture
and memorabilia is tended in the Shinto tradition with claps, incense
and worshiping the kami within.
The Japanese wound paths around their country as they travelled long
distances for salt, enlightenment and pilgrimages. In olden times,
these wandering pilgrims and traveling believers were obliged to leave
an offering of rice and hemp leaves to the path-side phallic-fertility
statues of the Sahe no Kami (protective deities) before embarking
on a journey.
"These deities were represented by phalli, often of gigantic
size, which were set up along highways and especially at cross roads
to bar the passage against malignant beings who sought to pass . .
. Standing as they did on the roadside and at cross-roads, these
gods became the protectors of the wayfarers; travellers prayed to
them before setting out on a journey and made a little offering of
hemp leaves and rice to each one they passed." (Moore)
In another old tradition, rooms of worship were purified by burning
hemp leaves by the entrance. This would invite the spirits of the
departed, purify the room and encourage people to dance.
An account of this event states: "On the first evening fires
of hemp leaves are lighted before the entrance of the house, and incense
strewed on the coals, as an invitation to the spirits. At the end
of the three days the food that has been set out for the spirits is
wrapped up in mats and thrown into a river. Dances of a peculiar kind
are a conspicuous feature of the celebration, which is evidently an
old Japanese custom." (Moore).
This seems to coincide with a Buddhist "giving respect and making
amends with departed ancestors" holy day. The current tradition
at this August "O bon" festival involves the similar practice
of first, travelling to the family plot, and then leaving offerings
of the departed's favorite foods on the grave, perhaps to purify or
satisfy the restless soul. At some point, the same hemp leaves were
probably part of this ritual.
<img src="http://uncleweed.net/words/essays/hempjapan/images/gravedave.jpg" border="0" alt="Japanese Graves" width="432" height="143" />
Partly as a politcal power move, Buddhism was assigned as the official
religion of the Tokugawa Shogunate, the period (from1600 -1868). During
this time, all citizens were obligated to register as members with
one of the three main branches of the sect. (Religions of Japan, Monk)
As time went on, various sects developed, chopping up and combining
doctrines as they chose. In later years, the battle for reinstallment
of the Shinto tradition and Emperor figure-head sparked a manic revolution
that overthrew IIyesu Tokugawa's descendants.
Zen and the Martial Arts
Zen, the meditative, Taoist influenced branch of Buddhism was also
influenced by hemp. Samurai (elite level of society, often warriors)
and scholars who followed the subtle tenets express hemp's inspiration
in arts like Haiku (short poems), Aikido (a martial art), Kyudo
(archery) and Chanoyu (Tea ceremony).
In these Haiku, the feeling of hemp is as clear as today,
The wandering poet Issa Kobayashi writes:
The grass around my hut also
has suffered
From summer thinness.
Just when I hear
The sundown bell,
The flower of this weed.
Basho the Haiku Master writes:
The grass-
How wonderful it is!
The summer drawing room.
Trees and stones, just as they are
Ah, how glorious!
The young leaves, the green leaves
Glittering in the sunshine!
and one more (author unknown);
When all things are hushed,
suddenly a bird's song arouses a deep sense of stillness.
When all the flowers are departed, suddenly a single flower is seen,
and we feel the infinity of life.
(All Poems quoted from Drake) Note about the Haiku translation:
these poems were extracted already translated into English tfrom the
original Japanese. While they seem to be an accurate representation
of hemp, this author has not seen the original Japanese texts to determine
the actual Kanji characters used.)
A well-known children's adventure story tells about a technique used
by ninja (stealthy assasins) to improve jumping skills.
The learning ninja plants a batch of hemp when he begins training
and endeavors to leap over it everyday. At first this is no challenge,
but the hemp grows quickly everyday and so does the diligent ninja's
jumping ability. By the end of the season, the warrior can alledgedly
clear the full gorwn stand of hemp. (Mayuzumi, Masuda) This certainly
attests as much for hemp's vitality as the ninja's leaping ability.
From the southern islands of Okinamwa which are cuturally mixed of
Japanese and South Pacific island culture, the skill of Karate emerged.
In the Karate-do Kyohan (the book of the way of the empty hand ) it
relates the feats obtainable by the Karate master:
"A miraclulous and mysterious martial art has come down to us
from the past. It is said that one who masters its techniques can
defend himself readily wthout resort to weapons and can perform remarkable
feats: the breaking of several thick boards with his fist. With his
sword hand he can kill a bull with a single stroke; he can pierce
the flank of a horse with his open hand; he can shear a hemp rope
with a twist or gouge soft rock with his hands . . ." (Funakoshi)
Kyudo (Zen Archery) has been practiced as a martial art since the
early part of the millenium. Like other arts, its was inbued with
Zen concepts and confusion principles of training and disipline.
"the Japanese developed a bow that was much longer and stronger
than those seen in Asia and Europe . It is recorded that a warrior
who who happened to catch the enemy in ranks was able to kill three
of them with the same arrow shot, go great was it's penetrating power."
(De Mente)
Not coincidently, the bow's string is specifically made of hemp. (Mayuzumi,
Marui) which reflects a connection with the meditative practice of
Zen as well as verifying hemp's toughness as a fiber.
During an elaborate pre-bout ceremony called dohyo-iri, in Sumo (wrestling),
the reigning Yokuzuma (grand champion) carries a giant hempen rope
around his ample girth to purify the ring and exorcise the evil spirits.
From the front of the belt hang zig-zag strips of white paper which
are common religous symbol in Japan found hanging at Shinto shrines
and in the small "shelf" shrines at home. (sumo guide)
This purification continues even today, the 25-35 pound hempen belt
being worn by Hawaiian-born sumo champion, Akebono. (JW)
It is interesting to note the use of salt in as a purifying agent
in the
ring as well which relates to Amatseru's shrine at Ise in which hemp
and salt go together in purification rites.
The Hemp Control Act
Hemp cultivation came to a legal halt in the during the post W.W.II,
allied-forces occupation. Allied troops lived in Japan and
helped substantially to rebuild the nation battered by the destruction
and poverty of wartime.
The foreign troops were certainly surprised at the abundance of hemp
growing both wild and cultivated. In 1948 when American General of
the Army, Douglas MacArthur and his colleagues rewrote the Japanese
constitution, they
included the Taima Torishimari Ho, the Hemp Control Act. (Constantine)
Ironically, it was the Japanese Imperial Army's invasion of the Philippines
a few years earlier that acted as catalyst for USA's "Hemp for
Victory" campaign to replace the Manila-hemp used by the armed
forces.
<img src="http://uncleweed.net/words/essays/hempjapan/extra-images/japcap6.gif" border="0" alt="Japanese WW2 cap" width="305" height="193" />
Japan too relied on both domestic and Southeast Asian hemp crops to
make uniforms, helmet linings and other war accessories for their
Imperialist campaigns until WW2.
With continued control, Western companies seized this new post-war
market and offered new synthetic products to replace the traditional
and the hemp plant was almost completely eradicated. Thousands of
years of growth and breeding greatly diminished under an avalanche
of post-war change.
Despite the intents of the centralized government, hemp was still
cultivated and growing wild in cities, especially along railways,
until the mid-50's. (Mayuzumi) As was the case in other countries,
most farmers had no idea that this outlawed plant "hemp,"
was the familiar crop they used for everything from bird seed to fine
woven cloths.
"First, you have to remember that most Japanese still believe
that cannabis is a narcotic, and do not realize that it is the same
plant as hemp, which was once as much a part of Japanese culture as
rice. In a mere half century, McArthur, with the Marijuana Regulation
Law (Hemp Control Act), managed to totally wipe away even the memories
of hemp culture, which endured for several thousand years after its
beginnings in the Jomon Period." (Yamada)
Asa still has a familiar sound to the Japanese people, most of whom
just assume that it has just been replaced by new, better fiber. Fortunately,
much information survives in art, books and stories.
In the 1991, 4th edition of Japan's major encyclopedia, Kojien, the
entry of Hemp (Asa) states;
". . . Ropes, nets, sails and textile for clothes and shoes are
made from it. Annual plant of the mulberry family. Introduced from
Central Asia. . . . Leaves are long and 5-9 fingered. . . .Also, along
with benihana (a type of ginger preparation) and ai (indigo) they
make the "sanso" (three plants). Since olden times it has
been cultivated all around the world. Hashish andmarijuana are made
from Indian Hemp from India." (Kojien, JW)
Hemp continues to grow in abundance as a weed in some areas where
it was once cultivated as a fiber crop. Written and oral reports of
expansive, wild and semi-cultivated crops of cannabis in the vast
rolling hills on the cold northern island of Hokkaido have been
substantiatedfor years, often by young city folk who try to harvest
the rugged fiber for personal smoking use with little success and
often legal problems. (Hiro, Masuda)
In the current days, the police still place marijuana arrests as a
high priority and especcially target foreigners who bring hemp in
from other lands. In fact the Japanese jailed Paul McCartney for 2
Oz. in the early seventies and it was only with diplomatic pressure
that he was released.
The Shizuoka Prefectural Police department offers these definitions
and information: "The abuse of cannabis has spread. The number
of those arrested for cannabis-related offenses and the volume of
cannabis resin (hash) confiscated registered a record high in 1995.
Drug abuse is becoming widespread among juveniles, especcially young
boys and teen-age stuedents. those under 30 account for 70% of all
arrested.) Cases of large amounts of cannabis seized from foreign
nationals visiting Japan have increased."
Hemp in the Japanese Language
In Japan's beautiful and bewildering language, hemp is expressed by
a kanji (ideogram) character, also adapted from Chinese, and pronounced
asa. Since the decline of cannabis hemp production, this term has
become a sort-of catch-all term for replacement fiber crops such as
Jute, Sisal, Flax Linen, as well as true Hemp making it a bit confusing.
However in any dictionary or other languge resource, it is unmistakable
that this asa character means cannabis.
"There are so many ancient connotations to hemp, it's incredible.
For example, that the Kanji for "to rub" consists of "hemp"
and "hand". You rub hemp to get hashish." (JW)
Referring to Cannabis Hemp more specifically is the word, taima. "Tai"
(or "Dai") simply means "big," or "tall".
Ma is the original Chinese reading of the asa kanji.
As in other lands, hemp culture lives on too in through family names
such as Asada or Asahara (hemp field) and given names like Asako (sweet,
little hemp child) or Mamiko (sweet, hemp flower).
The Japanese strains of hemp
According to a USDA comparison studies, Japan's strains of hemp certainly
were tall and big, beating out European and Chinese strains.
1912 ". . . Japanese Hemp is beginning to be cultivated, particularly
in California, where it reaches a height of 15 feet. Russian and Italian
seed have been experimented with, but the former produces a short
stalk, while the latter only grows to a medium height." (Dewey,
Dodge)
The USDA continued experimenting with Japanese strains with remarkable
success. Growing in Virginia, a strain from Tochigi-prefecture even
broke their height record.
1920: "The three best strains, Kymington, Chington and Tochimington
[named after Tochigi prefecture in Japan] averaged, respectively,
14 feet 11 inches, 15 feet 5 inches, and 15 feet 9 inches, while the
tallest individual plant was 19 feet. The improvement by selection
is shown not alone in increased height but also in longer internodes,
yielding fiber of better quality and increased quantity." (Dewey,
Dodge)
A clear estimate of how well these strains grew in their native soils
under the care of talented Japanese gardeners is difficult to arrive
at. Due to this, any definitive research on Japan's crop volume was
destroyed in WW2 fire storms along with most government records. (Atomic
Bomb Museum).
Hemp in the Rural Areas
Miasa-mura (beautiful hemp town), is located amongst the foothills
and valleys in the shadow of the Japan's Northern Alps in Nagano-prefecture
(north central Honshu, the largest island.) It is one former center
of cultivation.
When asked how much hemp used to grow in this region one farmer responded
by saying, "Do you see these rice fields?" pointing to the
vast checkerboard of rice fields we'd been cutting and bundling, "before
the war, we didn't grow rice here, we grew hemp."(Kondo) In 1998,
this area will host the Winter Olympic Games and perhaps this hemp
heritage will receive some global exposure. Miasa town's brochure
features the distinctive seven serrated edge hemp leaf. The town educates
visitors with a hemp and flax museum and spinning equipment on display.
(Personal Records)
<img src="http://uncleweed.net/words/essays/hempjapan/pics/miasasm.jpg" border="0" alt="MIASA town brouchure with Hemp leaf." width="164" height="237" />
(click to see big picture)
Many residents in the town are anxious to resume legal hemp cultivation
and are frustrated by the long and always unsuccessful application
process required. However, a variety of hardy strains of free-growing
hemp continue to abound in the quickly shrinking back-country. Most
of this is wild but some is cultivated for use by farmers continuing
on the old ways.(Inoue)
In this area of Nagano-prefecture, the local government administers
the growth of one or two closely monitored hemp fields of exactly
one thousand plants grown at a different location in rotating villages
(Miasa, Ogawa, Shinshushimachi, Omachi, Nakajo) in the gun (county)
every year. The local authorities count the plants at the beginning,
during and end of the growing season to ensure that no hemp has been
taken. The hemp fiber isn't used at all, in fact, after the plants
mature and bear seeds, the seeds are harvested to maintain a fresh
seed stock in the town coffers and the hemp crop is burned completely
in the field. (Gruett)
Certainly a waste of seed but at least the acclimated strains aren't
extinct as has happened in other countries.
In that same area, an American expatriate farmer and craftsman has
stepped back a few hundred years and "reopened" a village.
The hamlet of Gonda was founded about 600 years ago by monks who stayed
on when they found a clear water spring in this secluded mountain
valley. The area thrived as a farming community for several families,
probably mostly unaware of the changes occurring in their nation which
was far away as the several day long hike to the village to trade
for salt.
As Japan entered into foreign wars and skirmishes, young people were
drafted from the farms to fight for the Emperor, and many never returned.
This migration went on and off for close to 50 years with wars all
around the Pacific and Asia. In the post-war poverty, poor country
people migrated to the cities to seek work where many were exploited
into deplorable working conditions as a nation rebuilt chasing the
strengthening Yen. Any people left in the villages, split to the city
when the economic boom began.
Most fled the rural life except for the oldest child of each family
who must remain to carry on the family traditions, maintain the graves,
tend the elders and run the house. A household bursting with long-living
elderly and scant few workers.
By early 1970's, Gonda was still half a century behind, no utilities,
roads or services. A village with just old folks remained and the
city officials removed them into city condos rather than provide infrastructure
and services. For a decade the area stood vacant, silent, fading back
into the hills except for an occasional relative, bringing ceramic
saucers of sake and oranges to the graves. Retired from the Navy,
Steve and his family resettled the village and homesteaded there,
tending to the area and again using the bounty of the mountains. With
hard work and smartly planned organic agriculture, Gonda's fields
once again bloom with life. In their valley, there are discovering
the rich agriculture history of the area.
<img src="http://uncleweed.net/words/essays/hempjapan/pics/steve.jpg" border="0" alt="Steve of Gonda, Nagano, Japan" width="359" height="251" />
When first arriving to the region in the early 1980's, Steve saw
film footage from about 1970 of farm grandmothers hand-harvesting
& retting hemp. The film showed the Grandmas pulling the long,
fiber strands from hemp plants and shaking the seeds into woven baskets.
The film was presented by a local school teacher in a town meeting
to discuss the old ways. Old ways that are now illegal. Still
in the forests and hillsides, wild and tended hemp continues to grow.
(Gruett)
The Emporer's Hemp Clothes
On Shikoku (the smallest of the four main islands) hemp is grown for
the use of the Imperial family.
When Emperor Hirohito passed on in 1989, a coronation was held for
the heir. The Emperor himself is regarded as a direct descendant of
these Gods and acts as a sort of high priest in this pagan Shinto
belief.
Since Hirohito's son was also becoming the "living entity of
God", there was to be a special Shinto ritual. In Shinto, as
hemp is the symbol of purity, the new Emperor certainly had
to wear hemp garments which had become unavailable over the course
of his father's long rule.
A group of Shinto farmers in Tokushima-ken had thought ahead and planted
a symbolic yet subversive crop and presented the Emperor with his
new clothes made of pure local hemp. (Gruett) (Bennet)
They are still producing this hemp crop for the exclusive use of the
Imperial family. Further, hemp is being grown somewhere in Nagano-prefecture
for making the bell ropes, curtains and other essential goods for
Shinto and Buddhist houses of worship. (KTO, Maeda)
In this area, the hemp tradition lives on in festivals and dance.
The Japan National Tourist Organization tells about this in their
on-line brouchure of the area: "Oasahiko Shrine: Just walking
to this quiet shrine is a lovely experience. On either side of the
road are 400- to 500-year-old black pines designated a Prefectural
Natural Monument. Several wonderful festivals are held here:
shrine dances (kagura) by shrine maidens on lunar March 2 to pray
for abundant crops, a lion dance (shishi mai) in
November to honor the god who brought hemp and cotton to the province;
and at the lunar New Year kimono-shaped papercutouts (hitogata) that
are procured at the shrine office are floated down the shrine's crystal
stream in a symbolic exorcism. "
Cloth, Paper and the Arts
Cannabis sativa L. is also a ingredient in making washi (finely-made
papers). (AJHWA) These traditions are confirmed by a modern,
commercial paper corporation:
"A.D. 105 - Paper as we know it was invented by Ts'ai Lun, a
Chinese court official. It is believed that Ts'ai mixed mulberry bark,
hemp, and rags with water, mashed it into a pulp, pressed out the
liquid and hung the thin mat to dry in the sun. Paper was born and
this humble mixture would set off one of mankind's greatest communication
revolutions. Literature and the arts flourished in China.
A.D. 610 - Buddhist monks gradually spread the art to Japan. Papermaking
became an essential part of Japanese culture and was used for writing
material, fans, garments, dolls, and as an important component of
houses. The Japanese were also the first to use the technique of block
printing. " (Mead)
Folks are still able to buy hemp clothing and household accessories
that come from mostly China, Korea and now the US and Canada.
Hemp and its breezy feel is particularly favored as summer apparel
in the muggy heat. The domestic Japanese hemp is especially finely
woven and some weave have a sheer, crepe quality is unlike anything
else in the world.
Portland, Oregon dye-master, Cheryl Kolander has several exceptional
pieces featuring subtle patterns and the finest denier weave of any
hemp available.
<img src="http://uncleweed.net/words/essays/hempjapan/pics/cloth1sm.jpg" border="0" alt="Japanese Hemp" width="192" height="144" />
<img src="http://uncleweed.net/words/essays/hempjapan/pics/cloth3sm.jpg" border="0" alt="Japanese Hemp Cloth" width="192" height="144" />
Often dyed in fermented ai (indigo) vats, the fine, almost sheer
weaves show the possibilities and versatility of hemp. Weaves
so fine that the fibers looks more like raw silk or flax. Certainly,
Japan's experience with silk complemented the spinning and weaving
of such fine denier thread into a more usable fabric than the silkworms'.
(Kolander) Occasionally, some domestic makes it to the market place
where is sold by international high-end silk fabric dealers in obviously
very small
quantity. Amounts, suitable only for collecting and research and not
as a commercial venture of consequence. (Kolander)
Kyoto has always been the center of art, humanity and spirit of Japan
and because of some well-timed encouragement from a US Diplomat, Kyoto
was not significantly bombed in WW2. (Atomic Bomb Museum) Thus the
traditional textile arts carried onin the Old Capital.
Artists here still continue to use hemp cloth for making sheer woven
cloth, hand dyed curtains and screens, paintings and quilts. These
arts often specifically require hemp cloth as it works best with the
natural dyes and wax resist methods of design. (Tomoaki) Obtaining
true hemp is difficult and the replacements simply do not perform
as well in the field or in the studio.
The same artist who owns the piece of ancient hemp paper comments
on how he obtains his stock: "I am very strict in my selection
of paper because they are so vital to my work. Each artist must select
his paper according to his own taste. Because I am well-know, I have
no difficulty obtaining good papers, fortunately. Like most Nihonga
(Japanese as opposed to Western technique) artists, I use mashi (hemp
paper) There are many kinds of mashi even today, differing in character
depending on where it was made. It is possible to find huge sheets
of it."
A common pattern in fabric is the traditional asa no ha (hemp leaf),
where the seven blades of the leaf intersect forming a mandala like
pattern. This pattern is often seen in curtains, quilts and kimono.
(Yasuko) (Personal Collection)
<img src="http://uncleweed.net/words/essays/hempjapan/pics/norensm.jpg" border="0" alt="Note the pattern in the corner." width="179" height="134" />
<img src="http://uncleweed.net/words/essays/hempjapan/pics/noren2sm.jpg" border="0" alt="See here's the corner." width="191" height="135" />
This pattern is commonly seen in painting depicting the "floating
world" of Geisha. The colorful art prints of the day often depict
the subject's kimono with this geometric leaf pattern (personal collection)
as well as relaxing and smoking a long slender pipe while between
customers. Another interesting artifact from that world is a hair
comb detailed with hemp and perhaps Japanese maple leaves. (JW)
<img src="http://uncleweed.net/words/essays/hempjapan/pics/comb.jpg" border="0" alt="Comb Detailed with Hemp Leaves." width="454" height="187" />
In 1929, one of the most celebrated paintings of it's time, Shimizu's
Taima Shukaku (Hemp Harvest) depicts farmers cutting down thick, dense
hemp fields, surrounded by a vibrant valley. (Marui) This painting
was a finalist for a kind of national "painting of the year"
award from the government.
<img src="http://uncleweed.net/words/essays/hempjapan/pics/syuukaku.jpg" border="0" alt="Hemp Harvest Painting" width="266" height="215" />
Wood cuts prints from a artistic agriculture grow book from 1979
show the same dense fields. The caption explain how one must walk
through the fields to "ventilate" the plants. Other captions
explain various, well-evolved processes including three step water
retting technique and explain a means of bleaching by making alkaline
chemicals like potash and caustic lime. (JW)
Food and Medicine
In contemporary Japan, ground hemp seed remains in the diet in Shichimi
(seven spices) used for flavoring Udon noodles. Unsterilized hemp
seed bird food is readily available too. While soy and rice
have long been the nutritional staples, hemp seed was part of the
diet, used mostly as addition to mountain vegetables or else as gruel.
However, when the armies of the fuedal age went to war , they often
subsisted on balls of ground hemp seed and brown rice gluten to keep
them strong.
In recent times, even brown rice has virtually disappeared from the
storehouse in favor of processed foods and foreign dishes. Certainly,
Japan's skill in soy foods like tofu and miso will adapt well into
hemp which shares so many of the health benefits. The national government
continues to maintain its own private stash of seed and plants for
posterity and experimentation.
Since 1946, when hemp cannabis was in short supply due to the war,
the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Medicinal Plant Garden has maintained
a seed stock and bred varieties of asa for research at a large, secure
complex in suburban Tokyo. Given the Japanese knack for detail and
research, it is certainly a valuable cache of information and genetics.
The director, Torao Shimizu, maintains the plants are just to teach
people what hemp looks like so they can dispose of it should it be
found it growing in their area. (Lazarus, JW)
While the original intent of the compound seems to have been to advance
medicinal use of cannabis, this motive has been lost under a cloud
of paranoia though the use of seeds for medicine is common information
as mentioned in Kojien, Japan's major encyclopedia: "The seeds
are used as bird seed and can also be used as a medicine (asashijingan)
as a mild laxative. " (Koijen, JW)
Contemporary Products and Entreprenuership
Household accessories like washcloths, curtains continue to be sold,
made from Chinese and Korean hemp. More recently, new hemp products
from western hemp manufacturers are taking off. Given Japan's enthusiasm
for traditional, rugged North American fashion, this will be a burgeoning
industry should the restrictions relax.
There are now several stores carrying hemp products including Earth
Shop run by American ex-pat Neil Hartman on the island of Hokkaido.
<img src="http://uncleweed.net/words/essays/hempjapan/extra-images/asakojisign.gif" border="0" alt="Asakoki's sign" width="480" height="362" />
In Kyoto, a traditional hemp shop, Asakoji, continues to serve patrons
since the1600's, surviving wars and prohibition. Perhaps more importantly,
the store emphasizes the age-old connection of spirituality, art and
agriculture the Japanese community a vital example of hemp in Japan.
Their hemp noren sign boasts in Japanese "We only know about
hemp
but we know every detail." (Asakoji's sign)
<img src="http://uncleweed.net/words/essays/hempjapan/extra-images/asakoji.jpg" border="0" alt="Asakoji in Kyoto Japan" width="409" height="292" />
At Taimdo (hemp shrine) in Tokyo, a hemp shop sells mostly imported
hemp goods and is a center for activism and research. Citizens are
increasingly using political means, as well as spiritual, to restore
hemp cultivation in their homeland by distribution of information
and products.
As more international exchange takes place, cross germination of new
ideas in business and activism occurs. This is bound to increase the
markets in both countries. With resources like WWW making borders
and time zones irrelevant and young Japanese entrepreneurs looking
to expand into an exciting field, some American companies are beginning
to reap the rewards from this vast potential.
Changing the Laws
Like other governments, the Japanese parliament continue to be hesitant
and under-informed about the benefits of extensive cultivation. The
actual current legal status still leaves opportunity for application
to cultivate hemp.
This is a frustrating lengthy, futile process as the government rarely
issues permits. It has been so long that most civil servants respond
simply with a blank look. (Gruett)
For the first two decades, the law seemed to exist only on the books.
Farmers still grew hemp for community uses and the law was not enforced
until the outside pressures of "Internationalization," caught
up.
"Internationalization" is the closest translation of Japan's
approach and attitude towards making a niche as a responsible, major
world player. Continued American military and business occupation,
coupled with internal government scandals and instability, made creating
a international identity on it's own terms difficult for Japan.
The Hemp Control Act was first enforced in the harvest of 1967 when
20 stalks were seized from a farmer's collective in the Shinshu, Nagano
region. (Yamada) The ensuing legal proceedings sparked the hemp liberation
movement in Japan.
In the early 1970s, the first modern hemp symposium was held at Kyoto
University and a court challenge was filed to argue that the ban wasunconstitutional.
The hemp movement became a struggle not only against hemp laws but
against the pressing thumb of United States influence and the continuing
occupation of Okinawa by military forces.
Hemp conferences are now attended by a diverse group of lawyers, doctors,
students, and farmers who are lobbying the government and encouraging
research.
In Iwate prefecture, an association of hemp farmers promotes a festival
in which they invite the public to join in the harvest.. According
to Haruko Oda, "we get more and more people every year who come
to join in the harvest . . We cut the seven-foot high plants, blanch
them in hot water and then burn the leftovers." (Young)
<img src="http://uncleweed.net/words/essays/hempjapan/pics/mennkyo.jpg" border="0" alt="A license to grow hemp." width="315" height="470" />
A Shizuoka lawyer who owns a coveted permit to cultivate cannabis
for personal research has been representing marijuana arestees for
much of his 20+ year career. He and his colleagues are also blitzing
the mass media, publishing research and dissertations in popular magazines
to encourage public education about hemp and its potential products.
Hemp's potential as a building material is especially intriguing to
this group who plan to construct hemp houses throughout their country,
reducing Japan's massive importation of wood as well as showing a
useful application of hemp. (Marui)
Before 2000, Marui's group plans to call the Taima Torishima Ho (Hemp
Control Act) for review to test its constitutionality. (Marui)
If hemp is given fair time, this will have a resounding impact on
this island nation and will certainly call the Japanese nation to
debate at many levels.
Even some government workers are owning up to Hemp's heritage, as
a Health and Welfare spokesperson points out, "In the first half
of the century, cannabis was a prescription drug for treating asthma
and other respitory diseases, but Japan was forced to adopt stricter
controls due to international pressure. This means that under Japanese
law, cannabis is treated as if it was as dangerous as herion or cocaine
. . .although it could be said that cannabis is as addictive or miond-altering
as alcohol." (Young)
The Shizuoka Police Department ahs this to say about the mind-altering
effects of cannabis, "The user may feel refreshed or have a sense
of extreme well-beingand become very talkative. It affects all five
senses and distosrts the normal sense of time and distance. It also
affects perception, judgemnt and thinking. Habitual users of cannabis
suffer from illusion or hallucinations. Sometimes they loose control
to the pointof voilence or provocation." For these reasons,
the police are made to crack down on marijuana users with the same
zeal as they go after the Yakuza (organized crime families) who import
and distribute Methamphetimine which is the most popular illegal drug
in Japan.
Current Agricultural & Economic Issues
In a country of political indifference, the agricultural Co-op have
been a vocal, organized political force since the fuedal period. Increased,
low-cost crop imports, reductions in subsidies and difficult weather
have made many farmers look for a change from growing rice year after
year. This has also led to a reemergence of sustainable, organic farming
techniques that will speed the implementation of industrial hemp cultivation
and rejuvenate the tired soil.
At several universities around Japan, research and test cultivation
of low-THC hemp has occurred since the early 1990's. In Tochigi prefecture,
a group has recently begun producing and marketing rugged, refined
paper made from pure, domestic hemp. This handsome paper is available
in limited supply and is being used for printing cards and book-covers.
Shinshu University in Nagano is also cultivating but information is
not widely published. Various projects are underway in Iwate and Fukui
prefectures and on Hokkaido, showing hemp's potential in many latitudes
and climates.
In 1997 at least two permits have been granted to individual growers
for crops in Shizuoka prefecture, much closer to the urban center
of Japan. One permit went to a young farmer named Yasunao Nakayama
who says, "I can hemp to make fibers and extract the oil Hemp
and cannabis were used throughout the ages in Japan for clothes and
as an herbal remedy. I'm just continuing that."
The other permit to the lawyer Marui for personal research due his
persistant legal efforts.
Whether Japan will go the hempen path a kin to trading partners such
as Australia, New Zealand, Thailand and Canada remains to be seen.
The US continues to operate military bases and maneuvers in Japan
at the citizens financial and emotional expense. Heinous crimes and
environmental filthiness makes this is a subject that is more infuriating
to the populous in the 1990's than ever before. While under the protection
of the Americans, Japan cannot exercise true sovereignty in making
these vital decisions.
As the threat in Southeast Asia settles, perhaps Japan will reaffirm
its place as a regional leader and embark on a hemp cultivation program
that will be a model for other Asian nations, just as Japan's economic
growth provided an example, an example that many other Asian island
nations are now emulating with staggering success.
Japan is 80% forested much of that is in steep, sharp mountain ranges,
an often startling fact to "Gaijin" (foreigners) who have
never visited the scenic countryside of rural Japan. While Japan maintains
much of it's own forests in a sustainable and responsible manner,
companies and consumers continue to be a major detrimental force in
the wholesale destruction of foreign forests to feed its thirst for
mass media publications and information. Particularly hacked are forests
in Malaysia, Guiana and B.C where the majority is pulped into newsprint
and household paper. Single use, concrete forms made from tropical
hardwood are certainly excessive as well.
During the economic gravy-days of the last few decades, the world's
view of Japan has been obscured by a massive corporate face. Anyone
can quickly name several well-known Japanese companies but its difficult
to name a famous individual. There is little room for individual thought
against the mainstream policy. This may begin to change as Japanese
people continue a sort-of environmental reawakening.
In 1991-2, Japan has also had to swallow its pride and for the first
time import its national staple, rice. In seems years of subsidies
and reliance of chemical farming methods resulted in massive crops
failure when the rainfall was less than expected and the crops withered.
While this importation of rice reduces the massive trade imbalance
with many nations like Australia and US, Japanese citizens and farmers
are not at all thrilled with buying and eating imported rice. Farmers
will have to reconsider their techniques and costs to try to compete
with the much less expensive foreign rice. Japan knows better than
any trading country that once the trade gates are opened, shutting
would take drastic measures. This has also begat a reemergence in
organic farming techniques and return to heritage farming that will
speed the implementation of sustainable, industrial hemp growth for
the benefit of this island nation.
With total dependence on foreign oil, crowded cities, toxic-patches
of oceans, hazardous nuclear reactors, aging population, exessive
golf courses and little farmland, Japan will quickly have to look
for new options to carry itself into the next generation.
Recently, Japan is starting to realize this and taking steps towards
meaningful alternatives such as recycling and reducing consumption,
especially with wood products. With Japan's skill at traditional arts
of the land and soul, combined with their modern prowesses in manufacturing
and mass-marketing, it will exciting and inspiring to see what new
impact the hemp plant will make on the country's culture. As Japan
realizes its role as a global model, hemp will emerge from the shadows
to greet the future in the land of the Rising Sun.
<img src="http://uncleweed.net/words/essays/hempjapan/images/hotspring.jpg" border="0" alt="Enjoying the Hot Springs in Okayama-Ken" width="433" height="213" />
Cannabis Culture in Contemporary Japan
Cannabis in Japan
A vocabulary primer
This Kanji is read MA in Chinese and represents two hemp plants hanging
upside down from the rafters of a drying shed.
<img src="http://uncleweed.net/words/essays/hempjapan/extra-images/asa.gif" border="0" alt="Asa Kanji" width="160" height="159" />
Asa = The Japanese reading for the traditional kanji character
for hemp In the post war era, also refers to jute, sisal & flax
as well as true cannabis.
Taima = If you combine the character for “big” with
the character for hemp, you get big hemp or cannabis sativa. The “official”
word for the plant used on law act that prohibits it’s cultivation.
marifana = Common slang adaption of the Meixcan/ American word
for cannabis.
choko= A modern Japanese slang for weed, kinda like ganja (which
is also used)
happa= “Leaf” A common used term used the same way
as “weed.”
kusa = “Grass” as in “You got any grass?”
maku = The verb “to roll.” Try “happu o maku”
Roll up some weed.
dozo = This is the closest to say “here, take this”
as you pass the joint. A polite word used in everyday use.
happachu / happaboke = “Weed junkie,” used a bit
lightheartedly sometimes as the suffix also refers for harder drugs.
Cannabis Culture in contemporary Japan
While smoking marijuana is not as wide-spread as in Canada, cannabis
culture is certainly alive in contemporary Japan.
The most popular drugs in fast-paced Japanese society are nicotine,
alcohol and caffeine followed by Amphetamine in form of speed and
ice. The Yakuza organized crime gangs run the trade and it goes on
without the government paying much attention to it.
In 1995, there was an increase to 19,400 arrests for speed. Compare
that to a decreasing 1,500 for pot in 1995. (Young) Perhaps, the slanted
priority is because of the Yakuza’s wide influence throughout
Japanese politics and business. Recently their is more cry for legalization
to reduce the cash flow to the gangs as the usage increases.
Says writer Nobuhiro Motobashi, “The Yakuza are running a dirty
trade in drugs which could be seriously damaged if you relaxed marijuana
restrictions and at the same time tightened laws to catch hard drug
traffickers. In my own experience, marijuana isn’t that dangerous,
not like amphetamines or cocaine.” (Young)
In the big cities, it isn’t to hard to find buds or hash in small
quantities. It is nonchalantly viewed as a trendy western drug to
many casual urban users. Something you do a couple times before you
“get serious” with your life. The chunks of hash are primarily
sold by Iranians by the parks or train stations but the police are
rounding up many of these suspects and deporting many for visa violations
and minor infractions, in actions that often seem racially motivated.
The commercial product comes mostly from the Phillipines, Thailand
smuggled in by boats, the packages tied to off-shore buoys and passed
off to the locals. Or from Hawaii, brought by smugglers posing as
tourists.
In the mountains and country-side, the situation is somewhat better
as the skills of growing are still practiced. Unfortunately it is
hard to meet growers and smokers out in the countryside (that’s
why they live there). Several people I met there had moved from the
big cities to homestead and grow in the rural areas. Due to the scarcity
of equipment and the high cost of electricity, most crops are outdoors
in clearings on steep hillsides in the dense forests. The genetics
come from various seeds brought back from vacations to Thailand, Jamaica,
Amsterdam or BC and then worked into the Japanese soil.
Some growers in villages use small greenhouses alongside their house,
hoping no one stops by to see what’s growing. In Hokkaido there
are still good-quality wild stands growing for those who dare to risk
the police and go up to harvest. The police know this trick and station
roadblocks during harvest season often catching people with their
trunk full of plants.
In these rural area, Cannabis Culture grooves on with an international
twist. It is great to pass a bong around in a foreign land knowing
that you are among folks with the same understanding of the plant
as you. Especially in Japan which is so often seen as a crowded, neon,
worker hive, it feels great to meet people living a life like yours
in many ways. Same tunes, same thoughts, same ganja.
One friend told me about Bob Marley’s visit to Japan about 2
years before he died. Bob’s entourage hadn’t brought any
weed with them to Japan so Bob was excited to meet this friend who
was able to provide Bob with buds from his apartment closet grow system.
Bob stayed at his apartment for a couple days and gave him a percussive
gourd as a gift.
The police still work along at catching the Cannabis smokers , especially
as it is imported. A police spokesman says, “Amphetamines are
a big problem but we are enforcing the cannabis laws as rigorously
as the other drug laws.” (Young)
The Shizuoka Police Department has pictures of seized smuggling devices
like transistor radios and books and cite an increase in foreigners
and Japanese caught importing “large” quantities.
They also point out many strange reactions to smoking weed.
”Habitual users of marijuana of cannabis suffer from illusion
or hallucinations. Sometimes they become over-excited and lose control
to the point of violence or provocation. Their health deteriorates.”
(Shizuoka)
Their report also quotes from a book called “What is Marijuana,”
by Katsuo Kenmochi, “Marijuana abuse cause disorder of time concept,
confusing past, present and future. Addicts sometimes see what can
not be seen, or sometimes see themselves as beautiful ladies, birds
or animals. Sometimes they fall into a state of lethargy.” (Kenmochi)
The establishment also target famous people to defame the role models
publicly. In 1995, one of Japan’s most popular rock singers,
Tsuyoshi Nagabuchi, was caught with under 2 grams of grass. He was
jailed, fined millions, concerts canceled and had to publicly apologize.
Remember this is the country that jailed a Beatle for a week.
Japanese have also been at the other end of the rope as the Phillipines
executed by hanging a Japanese convicted of smuggling several ounces
of pot in the early 1990’s .
To be caught with smoking weed in Japan is a very big deal. Their
justice system is efficient and precise at measuring out your sentence,
no matter how much influence you have in some other country. Indeed
there are many foreigners languishing away in Japanese jails who were
caught bringing in a stash to get them by while they are living and
working in Japan.
At the border, both foreign and Japanese young people are often asked
about and inspected for weed. One technique used by the border guards
at the airport was to have the “customer” turn his or her
pockets inside out to see if their is any residue or pieces of bud.
Perhaps safer then the airport border is sending herb by mail, some
foreigners living in Japan have buddies back home mail a nugg or two
hidden in a cassette tape case or similar device although this does
carry inherent risks as well.
It is a social stigma to be caught and many Japanese parents fret
that if their child goes overseas to visit or study they will become
either pregnant or start smoking pot and then not be a proper worker/citizen.
Marijuana is considered as bad as any other drug and smokers are referred
to as “happachuu” (leaf addict) the same as a junkie.
For several years, Japan has had a working holiday visa arrangement
with Canada, Australia and New Zealand so it has given many young
Japanese a chance to explore the world and try many new things and
then take their new foreign habits back home to share with their friends.
To many young Japanese who feel stifled by the rigors of their society,
Vancouver is known for good bud, snowboard and music.
“The demonization of cannabis is not part of the Japanese culture,”
says Hidehiro Marui a lawyer in Shizuoka referring to the Cannabis
Control Act imposed by the US government in 1948.
Hopefully, Japan can find a balance between the traditional uses
of hemp and the international drug policies sponsored by US government
and global industrialists. This will surely increase international
understanding, exchange of ideas and lifestyle rights throughout Japan
and the World.
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Special Domo Arigato to: John Roulac, Joe Wein, Dave West, Rob Clarke, Sonia
Nord, Lauralee Elliott, Charles Tomala, Eiji Masuda, Gyr Walker, David
Moore and Misa Nakanishi.
© Dave Olson
Giggling Piglet Projects
"Creation, Education, Inspiration"
See also:
Taima.org
Hempenroad.com
Hemplobby.org
Uncleweed.net
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