Chapter 2 Aiming for a sustainable life


(1) For a start toward a sustainable life

How has Japan been changed?  How happy were people with changes to the social environment? Here is my brief synopsis of our history in finding a more ideal life.

                              
Cave living Humans still had the same feelings as animals.
Pit house A language was introduced for communication. The start of logical thinking (left brain). Japan had already a population of one million by around 0 BC.
Introduction of foreign culture Foreign cultural influences were introduced from China. 4, 5 centuries. The population was 4 million which is the same as the current population of NZ whose land area is 80% of Japan. 
Blossom of Japanese culture 5 to 11 centuries. Admiration of foreign cultures and strong efforts to create own. The population grew rapidly from 4 to 10 million.
Warring State Period Confusion and turmoil. Justification of the winners. How did the then intelligentsia behave? Not much population increase - 10 million until the 15th century. 
Feudal times The feudal system and subordination of the public. No individualism.
Edo period For 260 years from the 17th cent.. Variety of public arts. It is interesting to see the social background to how they were created. The population reached 40 million. The population in these two periods was increased to the limit of sustainability, because they relied only on organic farming.
Meiji Restoration Opening of the country by external pressure. The population was 40 million in the 19th century and it jumped 130 million in the next 100 years. The yearning to travel abroad. The dawn of industrialization and the transition to it. The sudden population increase was caused by the illusion of sustainability. Meantime, traditional Japanese culture started to fade. The society was switched to materialism.
First World War Rise of militarism
Second world War Its haughtiness and strategy of the US.
After the War The straight line towards materialism leading to spiritual collapse and decadence. The breakdown  of the bubble economy left decadence, emptiness and pessimism.
The transition of the Japanese population was referred to in a material at a round-table talk on the Journal of the Architectural Institute of Japan.

During conservative times, people were imposed on to work by the local lord. After this period, they had more choice of jobs and were able to work with machines and might have felt less displeasure with fewer complaints. Yet a few people controlled and manoeuvred them from behind in the same way as before. When we look back in time since Japan was opened, the present society (especially after World War II) chose to be an economic animal and played a big role in the move to globalisation with the US. Consuming huge amounts of energy, it never thought of the environment or of our vernacular culture, 'Wabi' and 'Sabi', instead living in concrete boxes. It never changed the strong hierarchies or drives to use other people. We are all hemmed in by this structure.

Now, when were we relatively happy? How can this be developed? Having reached the age of 70, I feel my childhood was the happiest when I could have admiration and longing for nature. Why? We have to practically predict and plan our future with a cool and composed mind. This is the time when we have to do this planning in a concrete way from many directions. The time is coming when one has a bottle of mineral water in one hand and a cylinder filled with fresh air on the back, as I mentioned before. It is known that the fossil energy will finish sooner or later leaving contamination and pollution. However, we keep constructing huge buildings which need a lot of energy to build and need a lot of energy for ongoing use as well. Public opinions and critics do not arise against this. The exhaustion of fossil energy may come suddenly as developing countries use it in the same way as developed nations. The world will be confused and chaotic. It is not difficult to imagine that people will swear and blame each other. People's already weakened immune systems will be worse, human values will not be respected and discrimination will increase.
There is no easy solution to reforming this social system that allows the present situation. Our society is composed of a very rigid structure and framework, and we rely on and use each other so much. I think we have to start to solve this issue by establishing a sustainable way of living. The origin or a starting point where one is liberated and made free is important and necessary to this. There exists an opinion that we will find new sources of energy, but this is just an extension of present decadent thinking and, were it to happen, would constitute a new hierarchy under an energy source again. Thinking how wonderful contact with nature is, we should use this as the new starting point.
Discussions in this direction will be rendered sterile and washed away by economic concerns if we can not provide quantitative persuasive arguments. This should be done through careful measurements and analysis, and simulations provided to further the quantitative discussion. A life plan should be created through the application of the simulation, by knowing and understanding its premises but also feeling and believing the immeasurable joy of living in nature.

It is believed that solar energy is everything. On the time axis what does the eventual perishing of the sun mean? What does it mean physically? When it ends, how will human life be positioned or ranked? If we are able to keep living until then, we must find a new philosophy and the next plane. The sustainable way of living is not only to be self-sufficient, but also not to harm nature and to live each one's life fully until the sun dies. And this means that we have to find the next spiritual world and think of a continuous transition to it.
It could be said that sustainable living is how well we take solar energy to live our whole life while not harming our earth. However, this is a narrow definition of sustainable living and we should develop our spiritual world to the next plane as well. This is the widened definition for the sustainability that I mean because the physical sun perishes and the earth will die. 

Fighting against human greed is a negative act with environmental hormones as its results. Accordingly, if we make efforts to solve this without living sustainable, a vicious circle results which is a war against the evil that is created by greedy people. The introduction of GE foods will create a vicious circle as well; while we will keep trying to mend the results caused by it we can not get return to how it was before. The distortion will remain in society for ever. It can be only positive to "live" and to create in beautiful nature. We should derive our interests and questions from observing the complex mechanisms of nature and being melted into it. This should be the new start for science in the future.
In this chapter, I give my foresights into future ways of living using the knowledge obtained in Chapter 1.

1-1) Developing solar energy use
The amount of solar energy that falls over the earth in the year is in the order of 1.21x1017watt/hr. This is 15,000 times the energy that we use. When we look at the situation in Japan, the solar energy that falls over the land is 100 times the country's total yearly energy consumption. If the sea within 200 nautical miles is included, solar energy is 1,000 times the annual use. If 10% of the 6 world major deserts were to be covered with an energy transformation efficiency of 5%, the world could reach the energy consumption predicted for 2020. The above comes from the report by Takashi Horigome in the Asahi Science, 16p, March, 1991. This ratio can be compared with the photosynthesis energy transformation efficiency of plants of usually 4.7 to 4.8%. It is clear that we have to research further to develop the use of, and be able to rely on solar energy.

If we eat veggies and crops that have the above energy efficiency, we are able to obtain almost of the energy to maintain ourself and an amount of them necessary to get biogas. If we were to enter them directly into the septic tank, we have to recalculate the transform efficiency ratio and have to work and use energy in the collection. There are different ways to collect the solar energy such as using dung for the septic tank or for compost. 

Let's consider eating. Food is a great energy collection indeed. For example, rice as a food. A bowlful of rice comes from 1.5 stocks of rice, if a person eats two bowlfuls a day, in a year they eat the rice from 1,095 stocks. If 9 stocks are produced in 1
m2, the area of 121m2is necessary in a rice paddy just to provide for a single person’s rice needs. The amount of solar energy through photosynthesis needed to grow crops is large indeed. We tend not to pay much attention to our bodily waste. It is not much energy, but we should note that it gives us a steady amount of energy every day.

A sheep called Tintin was with me for 7 months and a proportion of his manure was given to the Ozeki septic tank during this time. This manure appeared to have more calories than the human equivalent ? the  digestion system of a sheep must be considerably different. For other animals an estimation of their output in calories should be conducted. Communing with other creatures is very important to understand nature, and in addition they mow and give us fertilizer and an energy source for the septic tank. A sheep gave me wool on top of this - although it is difficult to use for any other purpose, as it is hard to decompose. 
The biogas from the Ozeki septic tank is 60% methane and 40% carbon dioxide, and is 4,500kcal/
m3and 6,000kcal/m3after the deodorant under atmospheric pressure. The deodorant absorbs carbon dioxide too. The precise relationship between an intake and the biogas on a given day will be available when the historical records are collected and analysed.
If a circulatory system with photosynthesis is introduced in a desert, thus producing water and growing plants, desertification can be conquered. I met a man who is developing a cylindrical windmill that can be hung on a rope and can collect water from the air using the heat pump principle. I think that this is a great idea.
Energy from weeds can be obtained by burning, compacting them so as not to expose the oxygen less directly, and/or biogasification. However, it appears better to grow trees and get energy from them, e.g., through coppicing. 
Daylight time is longer and the height of the sun is higher after the winter solstice. We surely receive more direct energy, though the heat storage of the earth delays the air temperature rise until later. The Maori say that as long as direct energy is being used, spring has started. They celebrate New Year’s Day with the Matariki, i.e., Pleiades. 
A season affected by the heat storage of the earth does not repeat linearly and is affected by the huge energy consumption of human beings, as a result the prediction of a particular climate is very hard and a steady pattern can not be expected. It is already known that this result affects plants and animals and even human lives.

While various uses of solar energy were discussed in Chapter 1 in detail, it can be summarized as follows;

* Direct collection of solar energy
(1) Solar oven
(2) Solar cooker
(3) Two dimensional reflector
(4) Sky radiation
(5) Absorption by porous materials
(6) Solar panel by thermo-siphon
(7) Sterling Engine and/or bimetals for temperature difference
* Energy collection using photosynthesis
(8) Carbonation of coppiced trees
(9) Biogasification of organic materials by the Ozeki septic tank
(10) Kikuyu burning for bathing
* Energy collection through natural phenomena
(11)  Wind mill
(12)  Ground heat use
* Active use of the solar energy at a house planning and designing (13)

Before we start to consider the variety of uses of solar energy, good planning with solar energy in mind is most important and of the highest priority. The direction of the house, the roof slope, the location and dimensions of openings, the finish of walls, etc should be first predicted with a computer program and evaluated. Depending on the local climate a cool tube system may be necessary. 

Main fuels for cooking are (1), (2), (8) and (11) (only during strong wind). Number (8) is especially convenient because it can be stored. (9) will be mainly used to ignite charcoal. However it may be used for cooking with the assistance of animals like chickens and sheep. If we eat raw foods to have the enzymes from them, cooking energy will also be saved.
With an area of 1.8m x 2.4m (6) supplies hot water for having showers and doing dishes through almost the whole year. If tree branches, fallen leaves, Kikuyu etc are burnt at the wet back and slightly wider solar panels are installed, hot water can be available for a four member family who have a careful and saving attitude. The solar panel receives sky radiation even on a cloudy day as shown in Chapter 1. At a practical planning level, the transient behaviour of the solar panels should be combined with an indoor climate prediction. Alternatively, calculated results should be prepared on various occasions especially for a cloudy winter day.
(11) should be used first for communication through Internet and Email. When the wind does not blow, a few additional generators are necessary. A Sterling engine, bi-metals and a direct solar energy collector which is under consideration should top up the energy sufficiently. To avoid the natural discharge and harmful material use of a deep cycle battery, capacitors should be introduced and replaced. 
There was a thin ceiling with ventilation gaps which was thermally insulated to be without gaps in April 2005. In late winter, the temperature in the living room was never below 14 degrees. The ventilation holes from the basement were closed and still the thermal transfer through the ground floor was retained. For heating, the stored heat with thermo-siphoning in the solar room can be circulated to radiators in the living room. The hot air right under the ceiling of the solar room will also be guided into the basement with the expectation that the heat will be stored in walls. All the energy arriving in the solar room will be used in the living level. If the inside wall of the eastern wall was to be plastered, the predicted (by computer program) living room temperature will be raised by 0.6deg. The wall will be cobbed.
In summer 2005 the heat transfer from the basement made the living level adequately cool enough even though there was no lifting power from the solar room.
(10) is thought for relaxation, and not completely necessary.
Energy for cooking was mentioned above. Good planning is needed to have enough available through the year. For instance, if the wind blows and the sun is shining, (11), (1), (2) and (7) can be used, and (8) can be saved. When the wind does not blow but the sun is shining, (1), (2), (8) and (7) can be used. The development of the Sterling engine and bi-metal systems are expected to also help.  

The above energy sources have ecological and technological elements. When they are arranged with the two extremes, ecological to technological, the order might be something like this

Ecological  (13)  (8)  (9)  (1)  (2)  (12)  (6)  (3)  (4)  (5)  (7)  (11)  Technological

How much energy does a human consume? Most of the intake energy say 2,400kcal/day/per day, is used in self-maintenance, while the body radiates 100 ? 150 watt and bodily waste is a small component. We have a circle from the sun - crops - human beings - a part of energy being given back to the air - energy returning to nature and again the circle of human life. This circle must be estimated quantitatively as the energy consumption system of a human and how much solar energy is needed for it. Not only this circle, but the energy system for a sustainable way of living must be estimated carefully. It means that not only the energy for maintaining a human life, but also the energy for building shelter, movement and transportation, machines for daily use and so on should be added.
There are a lot of other ways to develop solar energy collection. It would be interesting to look at the possibilities in exchanging energy between the Northern and Southern hemispheres, and between day and night times. This could never be done with an on-off switch and storage would be an issue ? perhaps snow and/or ice could be used until summer and heat could be held in rocks or water until winter.
The main energy need for the average person’s  daily life is energy for heating. As mentioned earlier, the hot water obtained by thermo-siphoning in the solar room is circulated to the radiator in the living level, and the hot air near the ceiling can be circulated via the air duct to the basement through the house, with priority for heating in winter. All the solar energy entering the solar room is now used in the house.

It is important too to discuss not only to obtaining energy but also saving it. We experimented with a few ideas on how to not waste energy during cooking. We put a pot of rice into a thermal box after it was boiled to save the energy normally used for simmering. Another is to give a skirt for a flame not to spread and dissipate. White rice was cooked well with our own homemade thermal insulated box in the experiment. 
Later on we got a 'Hakase-nabe' commercial pot which utilised these two points. We also got a 'Shuttle Chef' pot with a thermally insulated cover case. It is thermally insulated with vacuum. If the pot had a reasonable skirt, the saving energy at cooking can be further improved.
There are some things in the kitchen which could be improved. Pots, frying pans, kettles ? all should have appropriate dimensions and shape for the relevant family size. A cup can be thermally insulated. The height of a counter should be discussed with users. These items are of used repetitiously in daily life and tiny waste adds up.
We have to know precisely how much energy we can get through a year. What does a period of no wind over a month mean? No windmill power generation. The 300w one which is the most sensitive should be kept for any breeze with two others at 1kw. Candles need to be prepared. This situation occurred on the 6/08/03. In order to protect the batteries, a few new devices will be necessary like a Sterling engine, bimetal, a reflector to follow the sun etc.
Recently, I learnt that a luminary diode (LED) consumes only one watt. Using this we need not worry about the energy for lighting.

In such a way, we have to predict the energy acquisition from each source, and make an energy plan for every day. Most of the energy source performances are monitored at the experimental house, and the data will be discussed later.

1-2) Vernacular attitude towards house planing
Human egoism has been changing the ecological system on the earth in an awful manner. In Northland, the original biological ecosystem is almost completely changed. The native environment was cultivated for millions of years, and imported plants and animals might be weak in a different environment.
It is necessary to make a certain amount of effort to return the original environment, and to find an ongoing way to maintain them. Tea-tree oil for a cold or wound, spider webs to stop bleeding - the Maori have discovered and developed natural gifts. The attitude to learn from local nature and enjoy it is very important, I think. This is the same for arts, festivals and other things too.
The attitude of using local materials to build a house is fundamental, because this can go back to the earth without any harm. Radiata pines introduced from California in the USA  need a lot of treatment to be used as building material, as they are eaten by borers or easily rotted if  untreated. Native trees are grown through the generations, and we should establish a method of construction as the vernacular technique after studying their characters against the climate. Using this point, Japanese traditional technique were developed, but they are fading rapidly. We must make an effort to protect this.

Now, let's look back briefly on the Japanese vernacular. A house is basically timbered. Wonderful timbers such as cypress, cedar, pine (a Japanese pine tree grows much slower but stronger than NZ pine) are used. They are strong against insects and easy to work with. They show their own toughness and are resistant against earthquakes.
The wall between timbers is cobbed over a 'Komai' lath of split bamboos. This is strong against the type of bending caused by an earthquake. The cobbed coat is dry and hard clay mixed with cut hay, and clings on the lath so as not to fall, as mentioned Chapter 1. 
A roof is thatched using 'susuki' pampas grass, reed or rice straw. The thatching technique is similar to that of many countries as shown in Chapter 1. The thatchers skill and knowledge of local weather and conditions are important and a valuable resource.
An ordinary house’s roof can be made with cypress bark such as used in a Japanese shrine. As examples of the space use under a thatched roof, a traverse or a loft where silkworms can be kept or foods stored because it is dry.
As Kenko Yoshida pointed out in the 14th century, a house should be built by thinking mainly of summer conditions. By then sliding doors -  'Fusuma' and 'Shoji' - had been developed. When they are doubled with a thin air gap between, they can be used for a partition or even an outside wall with good thermal insulation. They are useful traditional techniques to keep. When they are used with other devices appropriate to the Japanese climate, a wonderful indoor climate can be created.
A lot of side products are obtained from rice straw: rope, mats, pairs of sandals, thatching material, cut straw for cobbing, brooms and so on.

A house built with local natural materials becomes artistically old, and from this the concept of 'wabi'(humbleness) and 'sabi'(agedness) was created. The habitual attitude to respect and adoration of nature created a lot of culture in Japan, especially public types. Festivals arose in many local places and have been enjoyed through many generations. However, the country was homogeneous in feudal times and people must have had great complaints. With outside pressure as well, the country was opened and people jumped to introduce foreign culture. This pushed forward the movement to materialism and resulted in decadence and destruction under globalisation, as I mentioned before. It will be a great help for a sustainable living to cycle back to vernacularism.
It would be interesting and meaningful to interview people from different areas and countries about their traditional trades. This information should be collected from Japan too and used to learn from each other to find ways for sustainable living.
Recently, I have learnt that some alternative lifestyle people make walls with straw bales, plastering both sides. Another example is a block made of shaved wood. They can be used in certain walls while the main timber frame bears the load of the structure. The wall thickness becomes relatively thick, but the overall coefficient of heat transmission is small. The rammed earth method is tapping earth and hay in a frame and building from the bottom up to make a wall. People are developing a variety of methods which are nature-friendly when dismantled.

In a house environmental plan, comfort is not the only goal. We must not forget that we develop a strong immune system in the wide changes of the seasons and that we have to enjoy these seasons and get joy from them. The present medicine is based on allopathy. It is important to find out the process by which sickness happens, life style, diet, living environment and so on. They must be all related. Then a total remedy which may be called preventive medicine can be developed, based on how they should be changed.

1-3) Cleansing at the source causing no harm to the environment
When the types of things discarded from a house are examined, the main things which can not be processed are often plastic. When I was a child, my mother got sliced meat wrapped in a large bamboo skin. Newspaper was used often for wrapping. Oil, shoyu, sake were filled in bottles which were brought to the shop by customers. My mother used her own shopping bag. The best way is not to use any plastic.
In the recycling of plastic, after getting rid of chlorine petrol should be derived. Reuse after collection by the type of production process seems to be the best route to take. Plastic can be separated into 8 types, but the point is how each type will be reused - most of them are burnt. Preventing oxidation, cleaning the dirt after use requires a lot of energy. One possible way is to use strictly recycled plastic to construct an Ozeki septic tank, I think. However, the tank must be made strong enough to resist the pressure of the soil in the ground.

When a BOD value was measured some years ago for the grey water ponds it showed 170ppm at the entrance, decreasing to 21ppm at the exit for the original first pond. This good result was obtained not only because of the absorption and decomposition by the plants but also because of bio-degradable soap use. The amount of soap used was as little as possible, additionally warm water was used along with a brush for doing dishes. Continual efforts are very important even though their effects may be only a little at a time. The contamination in the agitation pond was in the permissible range for frog and mosquito larva. There looked to be not many mosquitoes. There was sediment in the agitation pond and we should investigate why it was produced and what it was. As frogs were able to exist there, it was not poisonous and could be decreased by stirring.

In such a way, if each house cleanses its exhausts, the remainder will be from factories. These can be specified and are much easier to process at the source than after mixing them. If they notice hard to process types, they should bravely stop producing them. 
Many fish and shellfish are contaminated in the wide area of the New Zealand sea. A huge amount of pollutants are drained into the sea. Chemical fertilizers contribute greatly to eutrophication. Phosphorus causes a lot of algae to grow. A lot of fertilizers run over land into creeks and the sea. Besides this, the bodily wastes from animals in their meadows contribute a lot to the contamination. On this, it is said that the bodily wastes in a meadow arrive in the creeks an average of 75 days later. An Ozeki septic tank needs at least 125 days to decompose given organic matters. Booklets to explain the Ozeki septic tank in detail have printed. It would be wonderful if it was to be used at farms here in NZ. Further, it is possible that ultraviolet rays through the depleted ozone layer and radio waves generated from artificial satellites might kill microbes and sever the natural circulation chain. Indeed, we have to identify all human loads on the earth and think of ways to clean them up.  

Here I want to emphasize again that there is no other way to clean up the pollutants than to do this at their sources. Only at the source, is it possible to find a way to reuse and recycle. If they are mixed with other pollutants, they can only be just rubbish.
When the situation is considered from the side of the receiver, it is the same. For instance, with a traffic noise, if the noise power at a source is decreased, the noise environment is improved, the necessary sound insulation will be less for a building or a house and there are direct connections to saving energy.

1-4) Self-sufficiency based on organic farming
One of the things that I feel sad about since I came to NZ is that there are young women in even just their 40s who suffer from cancers. It can be imagined that herbicides, pesticides, antibiotics, hormones etc which are used a lot here are taken in through foods and trigger illness. It should be analysed with the theory of quantification to find what most contributes to this. On one hand, there are many people who buy organic foods. Needless to say, self-sufficiency based on organic farming is the answer. If we keep living as we are, it will be the time not to live but to survive, saying that this and that is bad for our health. This was already predicted by the American Indian Chief Seattle in 1854.
We have to be modest in choosing foods. If we want this and that, that is based on materialism. Each person should grow their own foods self-sufficiently, learning dietetics, food science, cooking, recipes etc and deciding on the necessary crops to grow. I think the reason why the Japanese have a long life expectancy is not only based on a traditional diet but also an improvement, especially in protein intake after World War II.

At this stage, I plan to produce the following foods:

Rice (brown to eat), potato, kumara: carbohydrates, vitamins, essential amino acids
Soya beans: protein (shoyu, tofu, miso, natto)
Plant oil: olive, black sesame (antioxidation)
Vegetables: vitamins, fibre
Fruits: vitamins, minerals
Nuts: vitamins, minerals
Sea weeds: minerals, vitamins, fibre
Fish: proteins (canned or dry fish these days)
Chicken eggs: chickens have not yet been raised. They are for protein, biogas and chicken tractors.
Salt: boiling sea water with a solar cooker. The rest of the liquid is used for fixing soya protein to become tofu.
Wine or beer: grapes will be grown.
Honey: not only for nutrients, bees are important for pollination.

The above are items which are planned to be basic foods at this stage. Ones which are not started yet are seaweed collection, fishing, extraction of salt, grape growing, beekeeping etc. A variety of herbs, mint or turmeric for repellent, leaves of loquat, persimmon, ginkgo. They are good to activate the immune system. There are many items left but I believe I can obtain them.
Xylitol from corns is good against periodontitis. I want to learn more about such natural remedies.
 
I have not mastered growing rice yet. I have made a lot of mistakes and tried to overcome them. I think this process is  very important and will be helpful for solving problems in the future. If we learn only the established way to produce a good harvest, we can not solve any problems which are likely to happen and will not make any progress. Mistakes are very important and agriculture comes from experience. With the transfer of knowledge we have to leave not only the logical and successful results but also experience gained from  mistakes.
Now, one of the most interesting things I have learned while growing rice. I used the perennial character of rice for the next year’s crop. I started to leave the old roots in a few lines every year and now all the lines are from the old roots. They already start sprouting again from the harvest. Newly transplanted seedlings were affected by the climate of the given year, but the grass from the old roots gives a steady harvest from the results of the past five years.
In autumn 2005, all the old roots were left in the paddy. Unfortunately, the harvest in 2006 was a disappointment. The harvest amount was only 38kg which is the least in the past five years. There are two main reasons for this. The first reason is that their roots did not get enough sunlight and oxygen in spring, because of the plastic covering over the whole area which was to suppress couch grass. The second reason is that I did not give them much fertilizer. Unfortunately I have to keep covering the area against couch grass for the next season, but I will add compost fertilizer as much as possible this year. Still, the way to grow rice using its perennial character can not be denied and I feel it keeps giving me insights into the interesting aspects of plants. I have a few concerns, however, for example if there should be disease after some years, whether new seedlings should be the replacements and also how fertilizer should be used.
If the special farming heritage and traditions from different nations were to be examined and shared we might get some wonderful results. The mild climate in NZ might lose some originality, but it could be wonderful to cook and use crops in other ways ? although they would need to be checked rigidly and strictly to make sure they are not harmful before they are introduced.

It is very important to investigate in detail how a given piece of land is exposed to the sun for farming as well as housing. Dividing the land into blocks and looking at the norm for each division,

(1) It can be found whether it is in the shade or not and
(2) The curvature of the land can be found if it crosses  every other division or not towards the sun.

The shade of a tree can be similarly found.

The area sufficient for a vegetable garden can be calculated. It is calculated that a person eats 65kg of veggies in a year and that 6
m2can produce 16kg of veggies. The area that is necessary for a person is 6m2/16kgx65kg=24.4m2. Four members of a family need 24.4m2x4=100m2. The area is just for veggies and some more is necessary for potatoes, soya beans etc. At present 69m2on the hill in Kaiwaka is used for veggies, 30m2on the foot of the hill is used mainly for soya beans, potatoes, kumara etc, and 20m2in the bottom is used mainly for water melons, melons, pumpkins etc.
With respect to rice, it is said that a typical Japanese farmer can produce 540kg/1,000
m2in a year. If a person eats 120g per day, 480g is eaten by four members of a family a day and 175kg by them over a year. The present rice paddy has 131m2and produced 66kg on average which is converted to 53kg of brown rice. For a four member family, a rice paddy of 432m2(=131m2/53kgx175kg) is needed. In there crops such as buckwheat  can also be rotated. In such a way, 500m2for a four member family is a reasonable area. A lot of labour is necessary to grow rice at this stage, but if a paddy is established using perenniality, and the appropriate timing for weeding is found, with  cooperation between corresponding family members four times this area does not require four times the amount of labour.
As for veggie growing, with good planning in order to repeatedly use the area of 120
m2it is possible to supply sufficient amounts for four people. As I feel that for potatoes, kumaras and soya beans, some more area is necessary, 300m2is given as a guide. As it is wisely said that agriculture comes from experience, harvests will be increased after establishing good farming practices. As for the present crops listed in Chapter 1, they are already sufficient for my needs if I diet properly while considering the correct balance of nutrients.

The density of mammalian habitats is said to be nearly inversely proportional to their weight. For a human mammal, it could be in the order of one person to 1.44k
m2. The density of habitat for Japanese who lives at a density of 320 persons to 1 km2is 230 times more than this. The reason why we are still alive is that we rely on imported foods. However, we are different from other mammals because we can cultivate land. It means we can use land very efficiently, though if we rely on a meat diet this becomes difficult.
The transition to a vegetarian diet will be a necessary one. We Japanese as well as other Asians are lucky to be used to foods based on soya beans. And many Europeans love soya beans product nowadays.
In northern Europe, where it is hard to grow veggies and even grass, the inhabitants eat reindeer meat. Letting reindeer eat the grass, which is the collection of solar energy over a wide field, they use the results. Observing how natural lives exist through the year, they use this in their eating habits. If we eat calves while they are still young (veal), we can double the yield in the same period. Another example would be eating salmon eggs ? while they are kinds of energy storage, it must be remembered that it is cruel.

During the dry period from Dec.17 1997 to Jan.11 1998, I thought that it must not be just a short term plan to save enough water or enough food and other things. We have to check if each others plans are prepared for such unusualness and emergencies. How should crops be protected against damage from cold weather? How can we preserve our foods and what kinds of storage are possible? Providing is preventing. On this point, rice is a good food in terms of storage. The reason why we insist on rice is not only for this reason of storage but also because it has a good balance of nutrients. As a result, we need not require many other foods to add nutrients.
I plan to learn how to keep and/or preserve tomatoes, peaches, apples, apricots, figs, cucumbers, kiwi-fruits, all of which grow in large quantities at a time. To control the ripening speed of fruit, the wide range of temperature in the house can be utilised.

We have encountered unexpected difficulties. The mild climate here at Kaiwaka is very good for growing food but it is good for unwelcomed guests as well. Kikuyu, couch grass(weeds from the same family of rice), wasps, sparrows, opossums are examples of this. It affects even bacteria and viruses. In terms of this, it is fortunate for the Japanese that they have two extreme seasons.
As mentioned before Kikuyu grass has almost double the efficiency of photosynthesis compared with any other grass. I was used to weed a bit from my childhood, but this is exceptionally hard to suppress. Northland may be covered with the grass sooner or later. It has only been present in the past 50 years or so and it already occupies almost half of the area. It is clear that the other area will be covered with it. At present, large machines can be used to dig deep in the ground and remove it but there will be no way to do this when petrol becomes hard to get. When couch grass penetrated my paddy I had to cover the whole area except for around the roots with black plastic sheets. You can see more about this in Chapter 5.
When we rely on foods produced by organic farming, the soil quality becomes very important. Sheep in NZ are supplemented with some substances like selenium, salt and minerals. The long life of Japanese might be given by the land they live on. It would be interesting to compare the soil qualities of both countries. Foods are related with the land and are a gift from the nature god.

Why does a bird not harm nature? It eats foods which are around on a given day and eats just the necessary amount. This way is established in nature. Why does a fish not harm nature? It eats food in this same way - which is not common of human beings, though there may be struggles between species over food. Why do plants not harm nature? They stay in a single place. Therefore they take a lot of time to grow. They do not open or bloom until the proper time comes. They may need the help of a particular animal to find a proper place to grow. Why do beasts not harm nature? Their competition may be fierce, but when they are satisfied they have a rest.
Self-sufficiency is basic and fundamental. We need a quantitative measure to estimate for a place how much potential there is in nature to support our lives, even though expressing things this way is a bit arrogant. As part of this discussion, how do we estimate such actions as concreting the coasts and river banks? At the very least, there is a loss of fish as a result and thus human activity must be estimated as a large negative gain.

It is fundamental to learn the best way to make good compost. Though no cultivation and no fertilizer may be one of the end targets, it is important to first make the land fertile for veggie gardens, by creating good soil for bacteria. A certain amount of time is required to establish this condition. When a veggie garden, a rice paddy and an orchard are estimated at 120
m2, 500m2and 300m2, respectively, how much compost is needed? 2,500m2is the starting supposition for a four member family. Questions should be asked like where weeding should be done, how many compost boxes are necessary, how big they should be. A compost box must be located relative to the sun. Kikuyu is never welcome, but if it is well decomposed, it can become good compost too. Kikuyu must be checked to make sure it is completely decomposed, else it can comes back and start another generation - even from 1cm of long grass around a joint.
The present compost boxes at the house are temporary. Concrete blocks or planks can be used for walls. The liquid which is produced in the bottom must be collected. It must contain good nutrients because grass grows quite well where it drops.
To get rid of slugs and snails, the leaves of tomato, shungiku, kumara, potato, labiate etc, would be good material for mulch as they don't get eaten.
The residue in the third section of the Ozeki septic tank must include a lot of trace elements and I think it would be a good supplement for organic compost. As it has been processed in anaerobic conditions, it should be spread in the compost and exposed to the air for some days. When it was used in the rice paddy as fertilizer in 2004, it was exposed to the air for a few days. If it is mixed as it is, it appears to be too strong and even kikuyu was almost killed. As preparation 500 needs exposure to the air, so does this I think.
I started to raise a sheep on the 20th of October, 2003. His name was Tintin. When he arrived, he still needed milk though after a while he ate only grass and grew bigger. His cooperation was valuable, he weeded and his manure was added to the septic tank and a compost box. We anticipated using his sheared wool for clothes.
Unfortunately, he died on the 20th of June 2004 while I was in Japan. He got facial eczema and his liver suffered. Later, he lost his back hair to a width of 3 to 5cm and the coldness of winter went into him from there. It was only 8 months but I enjoyed living with him. He taught me the importance of having contact with animals. Thanks, Tintin.

From the previous discussion, here collected in a list are the necessary areas for sustainable living for a four member family:
                            
House 80m2
Paddy (double cropping) 500m2
Veggie garden (vegetables) 120m2
Field (potatoes, beans etc) 300m2
Fruit and nut farm 300m2*
Copse (fire wood) 500m2*
Backup (education, handicap, social service etc) 500m2
Green house 50m2
Passage 150m2
Total 2,500m2
The items with * can be used as a  recreation area, or to enjoy landscaping.

In the Kyoto paper in Chapter 5, the total area for sustainable living was proposed as 1,600
m2, but 2,500m2looks more appropriate.
The figure is obtained from the experience at Kaiwaka and should be changed for different places. The basic concept is on solar energy, a correction factor could be cosβ/cosα where a given latitude is β and KW's latitude is α, namely 2,500
m2x cosα/cosβ. Other factors should be added for such things as the climate, the geography, the culture etc.

1-4-1) About cooking
Instead of having more and more of different things, it is better and more meaningful to grow suitable crops in the place you are, to harvest and eat at the appropriate time, with foods with a proper nutrient balance, then to refine the tastes of dishes. Cooking is an important and joyful thing. It would be good fun to do historical surveys of local cuisines which have been loved by the local people. Of course, they will have been cooked with local natural materials and we should look at this too. It would be also be meaningful to re-create new cuisines with local materials, retaining their original aspects. Collecting various country's cuisines in such a way at the experimental house, enjoying cooking practically, and tasting them, we find new ways of using materials from our site which will be good additions to our sustainable living. We may be able to make them even tastier than the originals!  
In 2004, one of our themes was to make tasty Ratatouille. This is a cuisine from Southern France which is a stir-fry with vegetables, mainly tomatoes, zucchinis and eggplants and accented by olive oil, pepper and salt. Any other veggies of the day can also be added. Since I found that with veggies alone the taste is very profound, I often enjoy it. I have tried to keep harvesting tomatoes as long as possible. In spring 2004, 14 species of tomatoes were sown, and I had new ones until the end of June (equivalent to December in the Northern hemisphere). The taste depends on the veggies of the day and is always slightly different from the original, and I serve it to friends calling it the Kaiwaka Ratatouille of the Day. Around the middle of November, the veggie garden is filled with vegetables, although it is a bit early for summer ones including tomatoes, and stir-fried veggies has already become the main dish. I sometimes drink the green juice of veggies in the morning which gives me a nice feeling.
It is part of a cook's wisdom to use leftovers the next day and this is an important part of family cooking.

We have relied on experts for their specialized products. After a long period of division of labour, specialized trades are open to the public, especially in countries where the idea of the independence of individuals is developed. There is a steady movement in this direction. Cooking and confectionary are widely and well explained to the layperson. A book can be copied onto a small corner of a CD disk. It is easy to read a book on a monitor screen. It is possible to do farming by oneself. The functions of a library are dramatically changing. The development of communication networks makes not only information transfer possible but also such things as remote medical checks and even surgery.
Relying on the mass production system for wine, we can easily obtain alcohol. It might lead me to be alcoholic and I say to myself that if I can not grow grapes and ferment them into wine, don't drink. This idea may come from a negative direction, but it is a valuable comment and it could be a priority for farming. I plan to buy seedlings for Pinot Noir, Shiraz etc.

Brown rice can be cooked well like white rice if it is soaked overnight and sprinkled with a bit of salt. If a cooking tool with the vacuum thermal insulation, like the Shuttle Chef is used, the energy for simmering can be saved. We once made a thermal insulation box for cooking. There is also a cooking tool which has a skirt so as not to spread heat during cooking and whose air gap is used for thermal insulation. This is an interesting subject for study in the near future.
The preservation of food related to the processes of production is important. It could be a form of preservation, for instance, to keep veggies growing in the garden or fruits on a tree. At the experimental house, rice, sweet potatoes etc are kept in the basement. If appropriate sized potatoes are harvested and small ones are left in the ground, the ones left grow larger later on. Through trial and error, the distance to nature becomes less. The attitude of buying mass produced processed foods looks to be false. It is a natural life to catch a fish from the sea and get veggies from the garden.
I recently attended a meeting of people who eat most foods raw. They cook 15% of food , like crops, but they eat most of their other foods, veggies, fruits and even nuts raw. The act of cooking causes enzymes to be lost, which works as a catalyzer for digesting protein. This way also gives a saving in energy otherwise used for cooking and further benefits I have yet to learn. 
The reason why fermented foods, such as yoghurt and natto, are good for us is that they are already working like a part of the digestive system of a body, I guess. An explanation of this is referred to in the section on the Ozeki septic tank in the anaerobic conditions.

1-4-2) Episodes in rice growing
When I was a child, I spent summer vacations at my grandparent’s home in the countryside and saw how farmers grew rice. A few textbooks taught me a lot too. Now rice growing is established here at Kaiwaka, and people have started to show interest. Information has been spread through an interview by a radio station, a lecture at a local green market, articles in a few local news papers and so on. People are trying to grow rice in Maungaturoto, Warkworth, Rotorua, Wellington, Nelson etc. I donate my seeds to a seed bank who emphasize the importance of keeping seeds from the original species.
At present, NZ  imports rice from Australia. I hope that rice growing will be spread and become well established through NZ before the fuel needed to import food is finished. I have heard that three and half generations are needed to make imported plants adapted to the local climate. I have harvested six times in autumn by  2006 and my rice can be called 'Kaiwaka rice'.
Here, I briefly review the rice growing history at the Experimental House. Details are given in Chapter 5.
‘Yuki-hikari (snow light)’ was brought from Japan as seeds in 1999. They were harvested in 1984 in Hokkaido. ‘Nihonbare’ and a few other seeds were brought in vain. If the growing of ‘Yuki-hikari’ becomes established, I want to try an improved species in Hokkaido. The outline for each year is given in the following.

                          
1997 Rice was planted in a stream which was naturally formed by the overflow of the neighbour’s pond. It was shaded by the hill of the neighbour and the inside of the rice was not filled while having pale yellow grains on top.
1999 A rice paddy was moved to a corner. A few ways were tried, but the rice had no inside grain again and was thus a failure. 
2000 A paddy and an irrigation pond were formed. Water was provided by a hand pump but the soil was sandy and did not retain it. Some rice grass grew through sprinkling water. From April 11 to May 14, some ripe tops of the rice were harvested and the grain filled two yoghurt containers. These became seeds later. The paddy was filled with a 30cm layer of clay and retained top soil was refilled over the top. Now, the rice paddy was properly formed.
2001 In May 43kg was harvested. Quite large amounts were eaten by birds. The harvest was estimated to be more than 60kg. Later, a firm bird net was constructed with fence posts.
2002 80kg was harvested. This corresponds to 91% of Fukuoka's harvest. Yet anxiety at the sowing time remained. And an interesting attempt to use it perenniality started with three lines of rice.
2003 48kg was harvested, an unexpectedly small amount. This was caused by an unusually cool climate. The proper sowing time remained to be found.
2004 78kg was harvested. The paddy looked to be fertile and to a certain extent the method was established, however the use of perennial character and sowing time was left for the next year.
2005 66kg was harvested. An interesting result from perennial use was seen in that the transplanted seedlings were directly affected by the climate of the year, but not the perennial roots. They produced more than the transplanted seedlings. The 5 year average harvest in the paddy of 131m2is 66kg. This is converted to 53kg in brown rice. It is said that in Japan they eat 44kg per person per year in Japan and I have never had a shortage of rice.
2006 38kg was harvested which was an unexpected fall. It was caused by the plastic sheets that covered the entire paddy in order to suppress couch grass. Namely, the old roots did not get enough sunlight and oxygen, and I did not add enough fertilizer.

"The time is coming when we can not import rice from Australia because of the energy crisis. We have to prepare for such a time. A country such as Japan which has a long history of say 2000 years or more, have had rice harvests 2000 times. They have had opportunities to improve it 2000 times. If we understand history in such a way, it changes the feeling over a long period such as 2000 years. Meantime rice farming was continuously developed. However, if we cooperate well with a variety of methods and results, we can find the next best way over even a short while.", was my comment at a lecture about rice growing. 
A survival struggle for food has been experienced in the past and overcome with a lot of effort. Organic farming is fundamental. On the other hand, modern science has been developed quickly and greedy people have used it. Finally it gives us an illusion that we could have more foods easily. The concept is even opposition to the god that governs the great universe and it reflects life in the imaginary world which human beings make up with their logic. Let's start to create a world where we can have spiritual progress, establishing a life with rich foods under the smile of nature and denying materialistic attitudes.

Farm work itself has become conformed and restrictive. I think we need further careful discussions on methods of growing, e.g., rice depending on climate, geology, landform etc. This means that better ways to grow rice should be researched looking at a variety of factors, using the theory of quantification I. This can be said to apply to any other farming as well.  
The following factors have been picked as affecting the growing of rice, when the theory of quantification I is applied to predict a harvest with them:
 
        
The outsider or the target of prediction the harvest per a square meter
 Factors Species of seeds
Distance between two neighbouring stocks
Soil quality
Way to add compost
Kind of composts
Climate of the year
Amount of water
Kind and amount of weeds around (Possible internal correlation with compost)
Seedling or direct sowing
When it was transplanted

With those factors which contribute to the outsider and are independent of each other, having sufficient sampling, and applying the theory of quantification I, a place's harvest can be predicted. In other words, the best way to grow rice at that particular place is found. Methods using perenniality must be analysed to predict harvest in the same way.
When this metrology is applied to any other farm products and the quantification method is prepared, anybody can produce results easily. When it is applied to the perma-cultural way utilising companionship, the items which have strong internal cor-relationship are combined into one factor and the method can be applied.
If we learn and follow only the historic established method for growing and encounter a problem, it is hard to correct it with knowledge. Everything doesn't always turn out right and mistakes are important. The experience gives us broader knowledge and makes us think again about the right direction. There is no progress where the way is already established.

1-4-3) Layout of the section
Although the first section is for solar energy collection, growing crops are one of these ways of collection. Namely, mowing grass, decomposing it over time and using this on the farm. This process utilises solar energy itself. We have to observe and know how the sun shades at the site, how grass grows etc and to from this learn to surely catch the gift of nature.
If this understanding is expanded, it is also through the sun that we get what is necessary to build a house using local materials. An attitude of not contaminating the surroundings saves the energy needed to cleanse contamination too, and decreases the surface which can not be used because of contamination. In such a way, we can not discuss anything while forgetting the benefit of nature.
As mentioned before, a very important subject is to see what size area is needed for a family when it is used most efficiently.
Isn't it egoistic for human beings to limit a certain necessary area to themselves and could it be the way to live in harmony with nature? However, it gives us a wonderful space and opportunity at least to talk about it. Even if it we find the necessary area for sustainable living, it is still an ongoing process to find better conclusion.
How wonderful it is to imagine the next plane by living in the smallest area in nature, enjoying harmony with the great earth, and feeling and accepting inspiration.

When the flow of economical movement in Japan is looked back on, first of all the development of division of labour changed the society of the time. At that time people such as footwear makers, blacksmiths, weavers, carpenters, joiners, hand workers, farmers etc, still had contact with nature and partly produced their own foods. There were people who could produce basic foods such as wine, tofu, honey, and dairy products well. They would have taken part in barter. Then an exploiting class emerged using political and social means, e.g. feudalism.
Mass production started. Larger amounts of energy were demanded. Hydraulic power plants were developed. Mass production became huge and fossil and atomic energy occupy the positions of main energy sources. Both of them stimulate each other and the division of labour developed further. Mass production and energy development are a pair and they compose part of the strong hierarchy of society. When we look back our society, the extreme division of labour and the mass production system have destroyed a sustainable way of living.
We have a space where we rely on others (or are not to be involved and related). We have to change this carefully and rationally. We have constructed subconsciously such a society where we use other people under the concept of the division of labour.
Foods are made by somebody else and even delivered to the work place, and one finishes one's job of the day. On the other hand, if there is a change to a sustainable way of living, with only a tiny bit of time one can enjoy growing foods and eat them.


The subject of UNESCO; Threatening food crisis and environmental problems

Anxiety is growing and we are gradually coming to a time when we can not grow any crops including rice because of acid rain and earth contamination. UNESCO must discuss quickly and practically the matter of preparing for shortages of foods and crops. It should work on establishing a food strategy on a sustainable way of living for each local place, and on predicting the amount of foods and ways to improve the present affected situation, I think. For instance, collecting statistical data for rice growing from each corner in the world and analysing it with the theory of quantification, should help find the best way for every place to cultivate rice.
Information can be collected through the Internet and should guide the world on the basis of good scientific analysis. We should research using the same methodology for all other types of foods as well. Then, we should prepare for various kinds of food emergencies, investigating kinds of crops, places for them, their amounts, the duration of their supply and suggest improvement strategies against contamination.
Food strategy must not be used to control people. It should be part of world wide cooperation against emergencies, improvement against possible human made changes, the recovery from them. The crises are not only on the land but also in the sea.

The preparation of globalisation of sustainable life style

Again, this should be done by UNESCO. It should find the least area needed to live sustainably depending on the natural condition of a place and secure the right for each individual to have this space. The layout from this project could be a point of reference for this. 
It is not easy to pick up on all the related items here, but at the least the following should be investigated in different places in the world and be discussed in terms of sustainable living: solar energy, rain water, wind, temperature, land quality, trees, vegetation, farm crops, vernacular aspects (traditional house plans, roofs, walls, festivals, social circumstances) and so on.


(2) House planning aiming for a sustainable way of living

It should be essential and fundamental to plan a sustainable life using quantitative predictions. By using the gift of energy from the sun a plan can be confidently proceeded with. In this section, quantitative and practical methods are discussed as the prelude for a utopia village scheme.
It is nature that allows us to live. We should not be allowed to disturb and/or change it. Accordingly, we have to establish the cycle of each person’s way of living as a closed system that does not cause any harm to nature.
After Europeans moved to NZ, they tried with a lot of effort to simulate the environments of their native countries. It was easier to introduce and follow the same methods there. However, there were some failures and now a severe quarantine checking system is required. Shouldn't we make further efforts to return to the native environment by extending the present system? 
A classification into agricultural or hunting tribes is too simplistic. The greed of hunting tribes who looked for the good taste of animal protein resulted in a change to intestine length. The oriental eating habits and philosophy should be referred to as a model. Though it is impossible to completely change one's lifestyle, but it can be done partly through a gentle change, and partly a drastic and enthusiastic change.
We must not look only for comfort. We must not forget that we develop and strengthen our immune system from wide ranging seasonal changes. The present medicinal system tries to cure only the part which is found to be sick without looking at how it has happened in a holistic way. The situation in this respect looks to be the same as how public nuisance matters are handled. The method to cure a resultant disease is in the negative sphere. Having thoughtful eating habits, which pays respect to the Chinese thought 'Medicines and foods have the same origin.', the remedy must come from the point of enjoying a healthy life. For that purpose too, it is very important to establish good house planning.

It might be valuable to research how individual countries functioned before fossil energies were used. In parts of Russia they live at minus 40 degrees centigrade (I was once given a recommendation to apply their heating system by a Russian woman in Auckland), and not much rubbish would be found in the bin at my parents home in my childhood. Only hydraulic power was used for electricity generation at that time. What kind of living standards did they have? It would be interesting to look back at living levels related to electrical power consumption and this could be developed into a reference point to measure sustainability. The Kyoto protocol is not enough, because we already were using a lot of energy in 1996 (which is its baseline).
I want to dig up wonderful Japanese trades used by craftsmen and use them in a sustainable life. I want to encourage people to keep them and not lose them. The things which have been developed locally through a long history can be great and precious. Japanese wooden houses are wonderful and one of these historical treasures.
These should be viewed separately from those which are obtained with the present short term outlook, and it is time when a future plan based on them should be created. The globalisation of materialism based on mass production and the strategic invasion using it must be rejected and forgotten at an individual level.
Tatami mats were a measure to estimate the indoor climate. They absorb humidity and from them an estimate on how humid the room is can be derived. This is a great idea of the ancestors in Japan. Bulrush has porous filling inside the straw, which absorbs and release humidity. The people of the past chose proper materials. If it snowed, they put a snow screen on. If the sun shine was strong, they put on a sun screen. With a little effort, they could make extreme climates less uncomfortable. 
We must have a plan for the future, looking at a long period over multiple generations. For instance, securing timber for house renovation requires the consideration of time. Estimating the number of years for 'hinoki' Japanese cypress to mature at least 35 years, how many are necessary and how wide an area of forest would they need? At present it is difficult to get reeds in NZ and rice straws are the replacement. How much of this is produced in a year and how long does it take to produce a sufficient amount? Naturally, short straws are returned to the paddy which must also be taken into account.
Good timber, e.g., kauri, rimu in NZ, cypress, ceder in Japan can be used for years. A recycling and reusing system must be constructed not only for timber but also other building materials.

After World War II when Japan was completely broken, the time of industrial production started. They were forced to develop while leaving contamination and pollution. Social habits to hide these things from public also developed, I guess. The production system and its spiritual background became criminal as a result which can be charged to the society.
Human made unusual climate and the great wave of nature. Rice has been brought up in a composed manner without encountering the former situation. We have to think seriously about the possible situation of acid rain causing rice to not be able to be grown. Of course the cause of the acid rain must be stopped at the source.
As a result, further discussion and work on the project will be indeed  needed with regards to the final conclusions on sustainable living. The present situation uses a lot of artificial products. For instance, mirror plates, an ignite stone, wind mill blades, electrical tools for the windmills, family appliances, a toilet stool and so on are currently in place. Aiming towards sustainable usage, further efforts are necessary in this direction.

Now, if the assumption of 2,500
m2for a four member family is applied to Japan, how does it fit with the whole country?

Total area; 372,313k
m2
Population; 118,450,000 people (Its density in the flat areas is 1,500 persons per 1km2)
Number of families (averaged by four); 29,612,500 houses
Necessary area for sustainable living; 2,500
m2x29,612,500 houses = 74,031km2
Area ratio of the sustainable living to the whole area;  74,031/372,313x100 = 19.88%

As Japan has 17%  flat land (13% of farm land and 4% residential area), if 2.9% of gentle sloped area is added, it is very certain from the figures that it is possible to keep the present forests. The present situation where only 4% of the land is used shows how easily realized the sustainable way of living could be.

I am 70 years old in the year 2008 when I write this. I want to emphasize that even old people can take part in sustainable living and encourage  myself too. I need the help of old people who have a lot of spare time. We don't have the power we used to, but we can make it with numbers. One thing is evident - that the younger one starts, the denser and richer sustainable living can be obtained. However, I want to find out a proper plan to carry out physical and materialistic work for the aged too.
I was told by a Swiss woman that they educate young people, especially girls, to live standing on one's own feet. I think this is right and if one has a sustainable life one can live in such a way. Japanese women, stand on your feet. This can be applied to NZ women too, where they won the right to vote first in the world.

2-1) Planning a sustainable way of living
The climatic data necessary for house designing should be picked up and looked at;  we need to get practical data from the local meteorological station which should be used for long term planning. We would like to ask any local stations to help and respond to requests to record data. It is interesting to know for example how automatic recording is done in weather conditions such as fine, cloudy or rainy, in what amount of cloud is possible to measure  luminance etc. Cooperation in house planning is largely expected. This record can be used not only for indoor climate prediction but also for a solar cooker and/or a solar oven to find how often they can be used.
Also important are the local climate, geography, landform, vegetation etc which are provided by nature, they need to be observed for at least for a few years and the results carefully applied to house designing. Security against flood, stormy winds, tornadoes, earthquakes and other climatic events is important too.
The design must match and be harmonized to nature. The materials should be locally produced ones. It may be only my taste but a roof design is most the important here. As thatching materials susuki grass, water reeds, rice straws, wheat straws can be used. Rice straws stored in the past four years are shown in Fig.2-2-1. Shingles of cypress or podocarp, or cypress barks can be used for roofing. When roof tiles are used their colour and touch must match the surrounding nature.     



Fig.2-2-1 Drying stored rice straws

A present sketch of the Experimental House site, the location of plants and tools outside for energy collection, and the architectural drawings of plan, section and elevation are shown in Figs.2-2-2.



Fig.2-2-2 (a) The present layout of the site
The meanings of number and a character are given bellow.

1. plum(red), 2. plum(yellow), 3. plum(red), 4. fig, 5. kiwi(♂♀), 6. almond, 7. blueberry(♂♀), 8. apricot, 9. hazelnut, 10. apple (Fuji), 11. apple(Golden Delicious), 12. avocado, 13. cherry, 14. peach, 15. nashi pear 16. chestnut, 17. feijoa, 18. loquat, 19. macadamia nut, 20. persimmon, 21. quince, 22. olive, 23. grapefruit, 24. citrus fruits, 25. walnut, 26. alder, 27. acacia, 28. poplar, 29. Japanese ceder, 30. banana, 31. mulberry. A. rice paddy, B. veggie garden (upper), C. veggie garden (middle), D. tree seedlings, E. asparagus garden, F. veggie garden(lower), G. shed, H. ground tank, I. solar panel, J. compost box, K. store shed for the solar cooker and oven, L. amphitheatre, M. windmill.

         
Plan for the ground floor Plan for the basement, Plan for the second floor

Fig.2-2-2 (b) Plans of the Experimental House
Characters in the figure show the followings. Unit is in mm.

Ground floor: A1, 2. bed rooms, B. closet, C. living room, D. kitchen, E. shower room, F. toilet, G. porch, H. electrical corner, I. battery, J. water pump, K. shed, L. header tank, M. ground tank, N. store shed (solar cooker and oven), O1,02,03. deck, P. air duct, Q. green house, Q1. agitation pond. Basement: R. seed bank, S. tools shelf, T. food storage. Second floor: U. solar room, V1, 2. book shelf, W1, 2. air duct, Z. PC for recording.

      
Y-Y' section                                                                               X-X' section

Fig.2-2-2 (c) Sections of the Experimental House


               
Eastern elevation Southern elevation
Western elevation Northern elevation

Fig.2-2-2 (d) Elevations of the Experimental House
It is human egoism to define a particular living area as necessary. Is it possible for human beings to live in nature with a good balance, if they live there saying it is sustainable? However, this could be a space to consider the attitude towards nature. Even if we define something as the area for sustainable living, it is still progress on the way to a definite figure. 2,500m2for a four member family is a tentative figure.
Every effort will be paid off. Saving gives one a direct return and is a wonderful virtue. We were often taught "What a waste! (Mottainai!)". For example washing or rinsing oily dishes with hot water from cooking. We can make a variety of things with off-cuts. Some examples are shown in chapter 3, like foot stands, tables, book shelves, dried flowers from rice grass.
A house should be designed to be as small as possible. Look at a bird nest for example. It is a good and wonderful thing to see that they have babies there and diligently give feeds to their babies.
When Europeans moved in NZ, they lived in small houses. David Studholme, a friend of mine from Waimate, keeps his ancestor's house, which is called "Cuddy", in his garden. It is thatched (by Norbert as well) and has a floor of 5m x 3m. It has a bed corner, a kitchen sink and a living room. It is shown in Fig.2-2-3.



Fig.2-2-3 "Cuddy" at David Studholme's

This is a good example of modest living. It must be interesting to introduce knowledge on sustainable living to it. The result can be a good example for the Utopia Village Scheme as given later on.

The temperature distribution in a house is layered from low to high. It occurs naturally and it could be a good idea to live on the low level for summer and the high for winter.
The ceiling of the ground floor was thermally insulated in April 2005, so as not to lose the heat there. There are no ventilation holes in it at present and the cool tube system with the lifting power of the solar room does not work. However, heat transfer through the ground floor occurs and the temperature of the living room and other rooms was a bit lower than the outside air temperature in summer. This was much appreciated in the summer of 2006.  
The solar room gets very hot in the day time, but it loses a lot of heat through night radiation. It was observed and compared with the next room during the night after a fine winter day. If loss is prevented, the solar room can be used as a nice living space in winter.
As it is a bit artificial, a sleeping room could be built with thermally insulated walls in the basement for winter. The heat radiated from a human body can be used as a heater.
Houses must be well planned for handicapped and old people. Depending on the handicap, it should be discussed at the time of planning the flatness of a floor, free movement for a wheelchair both in- and outside, bathroom and toilet design etc.
An inside fireplace where firewood can be burnt in winter should be planned. At the Experimental House, it is installed for the wetback in the shed. It was not done inside because of the fire risk and litter distribution. If a house’s whole roof is thatched, a detached house is recommended in case of emergency.
In the following ways, there are some mistakes at the House: the staircase to the second floor, the trusses to bother movement, the basement unnecessary for living at Kaiwaka, thermally insulated larger opening towards the sun for winter heating, the shorter eaves, the summer air-conditioning by air ventilation through windows not to allow mice intrusion, the shift of the solar panels to be more western because of shower time in the evening when the angle's cosine must be not much less than the one during 10am to 2pm.   
Clothing design depending on the climate is worthy of discussion. Most clothes are separated into halves and at the feet. The latter split makes one feel cold. A vest should be designed for addition to pyjamas.

2-2) Planning indoor climate
Though even a method for prediction is arrogant, it needs to be expressed in terms of quantity, otherwise it can not persuade others and can be washed out by strong economic power. We need quantitative discussion and prediction and planning after measurements, analysis, and simulations take place. This attitude and effort introduce further scientific development and changes the direction towards a proper science for sustainable living.

Various methods to collect solar energy were mentioned earlier on. The most important method is that of house planning and it must be done with precise and deep consideration related to the sun. Observing and grasping the site situation, a plan must be made with quantitative estimation: to locate and direct the house with consideration of the geography, existing plants and grass, seasonal change etc, and to decide the material to use, the finish of the enclosure, the location and dimensions of the openings and their finish and so on.
Now the role of the field which used to be called Architectural Planing Principles has become very important as it has studied the science on Japanese traditional wooden houses. As it is called the planning principle, this is the area of learning about Mother Nature, study on Architectural (built) science, and finding how comfortableness can be obtained and improved.
We introduced a method to have a synthesized evaluation on the subjective scale of uncomfortableness for three heterogeneous environmental factors in a room being solved with the theory of quantification II. This will be shown in the next section as the method to create or improve an indoor climate. With the introduction of it, housing can be treated as a system and a computer program flow chart can be drawn as shown in Fgi.2-2-4.


Fig.2-2-4 Computer program flow chart for house planning to support an Architect.

Structural strength estimation, cost performance and the estimation for sustainability as well as synthesised evaluation of the indoor climate are done with the data base and fed back, hopefully in real time, to the Architect. He can talk and discuss about the results with his client and work to design and plan the house.
The structural strength estimation computer program must be prepared for a variety of designs. It must be applicable for a 2 x 4 structure, a partition structure, a pillar structure like a Japanese house with wet plastered walls, a truss structure and so on.
Cost performance can be done with a building material price list which is updated every year. The database must be available for each computer program and tailored directly to the Architect's design.
An estimation for sustainability is still under discussion, but the following items should be included:

*Consumed energy in the construction process, its type and the method
*The amount of energy to live there
*The amount of energy necessary to renovate the house
*How long does the design last? If it is badly designed, it will need to be changed too soon.
*The duration of each membrane
*The toxicity: the building materials, the machines, tools etc to be used on the construction process, the treatments on wood of antiseptic and/or repellent, bonds etc.
*How much of the used energy is possible to recycle and/or reuse? And its method - how much new energy is used for that? Are there any harmful by-products?
*How rubbish and refuse from daily life pollute ? looking at carbon dioxide, BOD, COD and others

A possible synthesized estimation is to compare the total points giving ± points against the present Experimental House on each item above.
The estimation has a broad range of issues to look at, and each definition must have a common understanding. After scientific experiences to accumulate this we will have to find consensus to estimate sustainability.
The computer program on the flow chart needs a check point before it will be used. Too many different items are included and it should be made validated against certain references to ensure the proper output.

2-3) Synthesized evaluations of indoor climate and living circumstances

2-3-1) Synthesized evaluation of indoor climate
Indoor environments have some heterogeneous physical factors: noise level, thermal conditions, light condition, colour, odour etc. and we often estimate them not independently but in total. If one of them is dominant, we estimate it with its specific subjective scale. For instance, if we are in a dominantly noisy circumstance, we say, "noisy", "loud" etc. 
Here, a method to have the synthesized subjective scale for three heterogenous factors, i.e., noise level, thermal conditions and light condition is explained and is introduced as an estimation function to estimate the indoor climate. The details are given in chapter 5. 
It is not difficult to answer to estimate a room environment as 'neutral', 'slightly uncomfortable' and 'uncomfortable'. An artificial climate room was made in the anechoic chamber by lining it with wallpaper.
Arbitrary combinations of noise levels 40, 50, 60 and 70Leq (A), thermal conditions 21.8, 26.2, 30.7 and 34.6SET* in summer and 15.0, 18.5, 22.7 and 26.1SET* in winter, and light conditions 170, 700 and 1480lx were given for different room climates. A tested person was asked to choose one of the three criteria mentioned, after doing a Kraepelin test. This is a simple task of one figure addition. The results were quantified for each category using the theory of quantification II. Each category score is given in Table 2-2-1. The effect of these heterogenous physical conditions is now estimated by a subjective scale figure.

(i) in case of summer                                              (ii) in case of winter

Table 2-2-1 Category scores for three different environmental factors on uncomfortableness.

The dividing points on the total score to judge one of three uncomfortable criteria with the highest provability are given in Table 2-2-2.



Table2-2-2 The dividing points on the total score to judge one of three uncomfortable criteria.


Here are a few examples in the use of the method.
In summer, when the noise level is 55Leq (A), the thermal condition is 28.4deg (SET*), and the light is 700lx, the category score is 0.102, 0.443 and 0.006, respectively, with linear interpolations.
The total score is 0.551. Compared with the dividing points in Table 2-2-2, this environment will be evaluated to be neutral.
How should thermal conditions be designed, when the 'neutral' criteria is aimed at, and a noise level 50Leq (A) and illumination 700lx are inevitable? The total score needs to be more than 0.55, and the noise level gives 0.151 and the illumination 0.006. Solving an inequality equation, 0.151 + X + 0.006 > 0.55, the solution, X > 0.393, is obtained. So, it is found from this that the temperature conditions should be adjusted to be lower than 28.9SET*.
In such a way, discussion can be made on the figures of the common subjective scale, what factors can be chosen in design or to improve the room climate, and the technological difficulty and economical efficiency can be evaluated on the figures equally.
Among three factors, the contribution of the thermal conditions to the room climate is dominant (see more details in the paper in Chapter 5). Accordingly, it is the most important factor during house planning. Namely, how solar energy can be taken into it is the key.
The geological formation of the site, trees and grass around, the direction of the house, where and how large windows and doors should be made, the structure of the walls and their total thermal coefficients and heat storage, all directly affect the indoor climate. The planning method for this is given in 2-4).
With the method, the Experimental House thermal conditions are discussed for winter conditions. When the noise level is at 0.436 for 40Leq (A) and the illumination 0.006 for 700lx, and the criteria being aimed at is 'Neutral', the thermal conditions need to be larger than 0.088 from the inequality equation, 0.436 + X + 0.006 > 0.53. The score of 0.088 needs 18.7SET* or higher. 
After the ceiling was thermally isolated in April 2005, it never went down 14 deg in the night until the 20th of July 2005 and it retains temperature in the day time. If one wears thicker clothes in the night, this would be acceptable.


2-3-2) Synthesized estimation of a living environment
The method to estimate a living environment as a whole was proposed using the theory of quantification II as well (See the paper in chapter 5.). A questionnaire for a living environment was made, composed of 22 items based on the four factors chosen by WHO, i.e. safety, comfort, convenience and health. 
It was given to a resident whose living environment is different in the Kinki area. The result was analysed by the theory of quantification II. The questionnaire was done on 22 items but some of them showed strong correlation and the analysis was done with 8 items as a result. Their scores are shown in Table 2-2-3 and it was estimated weighing in order public morals, winter sun, noise, greens and so on. The dividing points to judge a living environment are given in Table 2-2-4.



Table 2-2-3 Score for each category of the eight items in a living environment

Table 2-2-4 Dividing points for judging 'Good', 'Neutral' or 'Bad'.

With this method, an overview estimation of a place can easily be made, and with discussion and estimation for each item, planning can proceed.
If this scoring is applied to the Experimental House at Kaiwaka, the total score for the living environment is 0.733, because shopping is inconvenient this scores -0.25, the winter sun is very good and gets 0.303, the illumination of the road at night is bad and scores 0.113, the noise level is good and gets 0.241, safe transport is good and rates 0.023, the greenery around is very good and gets 0.216, public morals are good and scores 0.382, and the safety for children's play is neutral and gets 0.068. This is in the region of 'Neutral' but very close to 'Good'. For instance, if the convenience of shopping was to be improved, it would move to the criteria of 'Good'. This result coincides with my impressions of daily life.

 2-4) Planning of the thermal environment
As mentioned previously it is dominantly important for the adjustment of the thermal conditions to improve the quality of an indoor climate. In this section its planning is discussed.
Persons who are not that interested in the technical aspects need not to understand the details, however, please examine what can be calculated and how it can be used.
The details of heat and thermal transfer in a building and house have been studied a lot. For instance, people study wind pressure distribution around a house, and look at all its details. If one studies thermal transfer in walls, one mainly focuses on this. By contrast, we try to take an overall view connecting recent results for the purpose of predicting indoor climate from both the outside one and also as compared to the field measurements. Namely, how the overview calculation meets the measured in practice and whether it can be used for prediction of an indoor climate. With this access, the parts that are erroneous and need refining can be found and the next emphasis for more research discovered.
At the Kaiwaka Experimental House, the following items, outdoors and indoors, have been monitored for some years: direct solar radiation, sky radiation, wind speed and direction(2m under the middle windmill, 15m away from the house to the southern western point, about 7m high from the ground. Later it was moved to be 15m west to it, at 7m high from the ground, in order to avoid the windmills' disturbance), outside temperature and humidity. In the house, air temperature at various points, air movements (at five points-two ground floor ventilation holes and three western cool tube inlets), two humidity sensors (outside and in the living room), two glove thermometers(in the northern bed room and the living room).    
Hirotaka Azumi, who was one of my students and is a lecturer at Soai University, calculated the thermal conditions in the house and compared them with the measured results for his doctoral dissertation.

2-4-1) Thermal condition calculation
To predict the indoor thermal conditions from the outside climate, we have to solve two linked equations at the same time. One is the heat balance in the room as shown in Eq.2-3-2. The heat which comes through the walls, the floor and the ceiling, the heat taken by the air ventilation and the generated heat must be balanced. The heat transfer through the boundaries is solved by Eq.2-3-1. The second one is the air movement to the surrounding spaces which depends on their air temperatures and is given by Eq.2-3-3. The first equation Eq.2-3-2 changes the air temperature and then the second equation Eq.2-3-3 gets different air movements in between, and they should be solved together.
Eq.2-3-1, then Eq.2-3-2 is expressed by a partial differential equation, for the practical calculation it is changed to differences as shown in Eq.2-3-4. As the heat balance and the air movement influence each other in such a way, their behaviours are divided by a unit time and solved time by time and their time responses are obtained.
 



2-4-2) Simulation at the Experimental House for thermal conditions
Calculated results by Dr. H.Azumi are compared with the measured results at the northern and southern bed rooms of the Experimental House, in winter and summer of 1996 to 1997. The measured result is shown with a thick black continuous line, the calculated result with a red continuous line and the outside temperature with a thin black continuous line.

As they are shown, the calculated results follow the measured temperature change quite well. With this computer program, temperature change in the house for building or renovating can be predicted using local meteorological station data.
There are a lot of factors which affect an indoor climate: outside climate such as direct solar radiation, sky radiation, wind direction, wind speed, outside temperature and humidity etc, the shape of a house, surface finish, the location and dimensions of windows and doors and their finishes, the thermal conductivity and heat capacity of the enclosure, area of air gaps, inside partitions, air ventilation between rooms etc. All these conditions affect both equations. Many of them affect steady thermal behaviour too. However they must be solved as the thermal transient response, otherwise it does not mean much to the indoor climate estimation. In general, if the heat capacity of a house is large, the thermal peak is delayed and lower. This is often experienced in summer. To be able to predict this kind of behaviour accurately with these equations and plan well with the results, the indoor climate must be estimated properly.
As these calculations are a bit complicated, they should be done by experienced persons. It is important and urgent to educate those specialists.
The calculated results follow the measured results well. They differ at the largest by 1.5degrees, which is guessed to be caused mainly by human disturbances. The total change is well captured in particular, as shown from Fig.2-2-5 to 8. This computer program is practical enough to predict the indoor thermal conditions before a house is built. On top of this aspect, if noise and light environments can be calculated, living comfortableness can be predicted by the estimation method in 2-3-1). These computer programs will be required soon.

With the computer program it can be easily calculated how much solar energy is obtained by a house in order to estimate sustainability. This can be found by summing how much of the solar energy is obtained through the walls and windows with the equivalent temperature on their surfaces.
As the Experimental House doesn’t have a problem with noise and light environments, if possible the thermal conditions should be improved. In April 2005 Norbert put the thermally insulated ceiling under the existing one. The living room temperature did not drop lower than 14deg in winter. The improvement was provided because air convection in the larger volume was stopped, the volume of the living room became less, and given and generated heat were trapped there with the ceiling thermal insulation.  At this stage, the ventilation holes in the ceiling do not reach right through.
In addition to this improvement, if the eastern inside wall was to be plastered over, the total thermal coefficient would be less and the winter temperature can be expected to be higher by 0.6deg according to the computer calculation. As the winter temperature in the basement changed a bit more, through thermal transfer from the ground floor, it is imagined that the temperature in the living room will be improved. The first summer after the ceiling thermal insulation was installed was comfortable, and the living room temperature well controlled in both extreme seasons.

2-5) Summary of the section
The following were written as my notes about how a house should be practically designed under Kaiwaka conditions.

*The first four items of the Kaiwaka project i.e. natural energy use, local material use, no contamination and self-sufficiency, must be a given.
*A house should be small as possible.
*Practical indoor climate calculations, especially thermal conditions planning (the direction of house and its openings, eaves, heating equipments etc) for the optimum design.
*The location of a toilet must be chosen to allow an Ozeki septic tank to operate well.*Summer environmental controls rely on air ventilation through windows. The double glazed windows and doors are for winter.
*Veranda and conservatory
*The shape and arrangement of windows use non linear lines of natural materials, with each level not on a line.
*Hot water obtained in the solar room, a solar cooker and a solar oven must be treated as the systems to obtain solar energy. Some of them can be used for winter heating.
*Resume or conclusion for each section would come here.
*Though based mainly on a vegetarian diet, 2,500m2is necessary for a four member family house.


(3)Utopia Village Scheme (Togen-kyo Scheme)

Togen-kyo literally means the village of the origin of a peach. It was coined by a Chinese poet, Tou Enmei who lived from 365 to 427AC. Another poet, Ri Haku, who lived from 701 to 762AC, referred to it in his poem which was influenced by Tou's poem. When he was walking along a creek, he found a pretty peach floating. He was interested to find where the peach came from and kept walking upstream. When he entered a valley, suddenly a village full of flowers caught his eyes. There young and old were full of smiles and welcomed him. He thought this village must be the one where the peach came from and called it the village of the origin of a peach. The name has been referred as an ideal peaceful village. The village that I dream of might have existed then there.
If we get a place full of nature, we can learn how to live from the lives of various creatures. From the process of growing crops, raising animals, we can learn and feel a lot of joy often. Sustainability is basically of one's mind and spirit. It is the space to seek how we can get to the next plane where everybody has to go. The present society gives us various thoughts when we look for it. It is to a certain extent necessary to criticize people who come on strong for themselves, people who avoid confronting difficulties, people who behave cunningly in-between and so on, and to tell them such a way does not make any sense or give results, and is at a low spiritual level. And we should find the real meaning of life beyond it. Sustainable life gives us courage and confidence.

Fortunately, many Japanese villages have the fundamental conditions for sustainability. There is a wonderful stored infrastructure to collect water from the mountains down to flat fields including irrigation. Basically human houses do not adapt themselves to natural surroundings. A house design needs a lot of effort to be adjusted. If houses which have not had this effort cluster, they leave only an awful atmosphere. In Asia, people tend to live together and depend on each other. This easily yields the soil of a power structure. On the other hand, in NZ, especially in the countryside, they tend to live independently according to individualism. A strong personality is needed. However, a certain amount of effort is necessary to create culture. If an individual is respected by others and has good spirit and behaviour, helps the weak, and keeps their mind toward creating culture, they will show great potential toward sustainable living. My impression when I travelled in Italy is that they design houses respecting the surrounding existing houses and place a great importance on group expression. As a result they create a wonderful space and atmosphere. If it is filled with culture, the basic level for reference is further enhanced and a more refined culture is created. Italy is filled with such spaces.

It is difficult to define tax for income from nature. Basically it is tax free. If the smallest tax is paid not by money but by things, the rich will not exist. People tend to wish to be rich because of the existence of money, expecting 'I wish I could have more money.' If barter is applied, one has to think of things and the concept of saving fades away. Points would be given in barter and accumulated points used for the next planned shopping.  
In sustainable living one must not use farming as a means to earn money from other people. However, we have to grow extra for handicapped people, old people, social services etc. How much should be estimated?

*How many years one can not work when one becomes old?
*What percentage of disabled people does the community have?
*How many medical doctors does the community need?
*How many people are needed for social services, policemen, bureaucrats etc? They should be counted with though, because we are in a multimedia time. If databases and applications are well constructed, the present work for places like the tax office could be much decreased.

A certain extent of research is needed. Then the surplus can be bartered with a point system.

The complex mechanism of nature is impossible to produce on paper. I would like to proceed with discussions and activities in a practically depopulated village. From the discussions that arise from the case study, sustainable village planning can be established. The link to higher levels, such as cities, nations and the world must be developed to overcome established concepts of the past. This needs a lot of cooperation by people of goodwill. The experiences that have been obtained at the Kaiwaka project are at least the start and consensus must be found through meetings. It will need a lot of money, especially wages, to construct a sustainable life. However, this is a deduction based on the present social system where people use each other, instead, we have to discuss the society where each one lives by oneself.  
First, have workshops by interested persons, to teach basic scientific knowledge, techniques of carpentry, the basics of farming etc, and reaching consensus on constructing the village. The master plan must be made by all the members. Next, the first family house should be built so that sustainable life can start from the next morning. Those family members need to work on the construction of the next house. When the circle is widened, a village is formed naturally. The experienced members volunteer for the next village.
"Each one is liberated, becomes free, has a creative life, and cultivates and refines oneself with each other. Such a village called 'Utopia Village' we form."

3-1) Gifts given by nature
Meteorological data through the year must be obtained. Summer and winter data is especially important. If both seasons are extreme such as they are in Japan, the introduction of ground heat use has to be considered.
Without disturbing the natural landform and vegetation, a plan must be carefully designed to build a house and a farming area. Sunset and sunrise through the four seasons needs to be well understood. Especially in Japan, attention should be given to summer and winter. Landform, geological details, population statistics, social background including culture, festival, events etc should surveyed and put into the planning. The benefits of seasons must be fully insinuated and enjoyed in the dwelling. Weather forecasts are important - not only whether it is fine or cloudy, but also what the pressure distribution is. If contour lines are shrunken,  wind tends to blow at a right-angle to them. The weather forecast is used to predict how much energy is obtainable the next day. 
If clean water is obtained from a creek which self-purifies, this is ideal. Otherwise rain water collection will be essential. If water is collected over the surface of a thatched roof, the water must be well filtered and sterilized before drinking. The glass roof surface of the green house gets mouldy. As a material, tin or galvanized plate can be used. One idea is to have a large tin roof on top. If underground water in a well can be found, this is a good method as well. Water is filtered well in the ground after many years. It can be possible to collect rain water in a field into a well or a pond, using a slope to run rain water and collect it in the bottom. A stepped rice paddies can do this.

Discussion of thatching materials: they use seaweed in Denmark. I expect that cultivating rice will spread and rice straw will be available in NZ. Water reed is a good material but it is considered noxious. I heard recently there is a native water reed called KUTA. I want to investigate this.
Discussion about wall plastering: it is necessary to find methods and material which are popular in different places. The plastering method which has developed in a local climate should be investigated and improved experimentally. A common expression in many places is "a breathing wall". An interesting point is that in NZ, Japanese plastering is applicable because both countries suffer earthquakes. Japanese cobbing was explained in Chapter I.
For the renovation of an existing house, rice paper walls with an air space in-between provide good thermal insulation. A timber house with a thatched roof at the Shirakawa-go House Museum (Japan) has air gaps here and there to allow the cold outside air in. It does not have any heavy walls and a few shoji screens are used for sliding doors and windows. If these screens are doubled and the gaps are sealed or made air tight, the winter indoor climate could be much improved.

The Japanese terrace paddy is a wonderful type of infrastructure. It is knowledge stored from past experiences with nature. We must not lose it. From careful observation of the sun, the natural flow of water, soil reform and clay to hold water etc all have been learnt. As a result, they prevent flash floods and hold the landform. Japanese tend to live in the lowlands. If they live in the highland, particular rice which does not need much water needs to be grown. We have to learn what kind of taste it has and how it can be grown. Naturally constructed infrastructure, i.e., a terrace paddy and ones which are constructed for human convenience, i.e., a highway must be clearly distinguished.
We have to collect and learn the knowledge that has been developed by locals in the past. It is very difficult to localize a point in the air. We found it very difficult to set a microphone with coordinates in the anechoic chamber. The Maori's knowledge of sailing and navigation by reading the stars and ocean streams is great and accurate. The knowledge that a spider's web can stop bleeding is also a gift from them. Manuka oil is often used on wounds. There are many herbs in Japan that our ancestors used too.

If we leave nature behind, it may be very difficult to get back there.

*To forget old farming
*To lose the ability to think over a wide range of things and draw the wrong conclusions, e.g., high tide and flood.
*To observe nature with the sharp eyes which are necessary to cooperate with it.

A child who can not touch worms, a man who thought potatoes grow on a tree, a boy who said the colour of a flying bird is wrong, a student who can not keep looking at stars because he is afraid to imagine infinity. Already certain distortions are growing because of the estrangement from nature. As well, human inventions from selfish attitudes yield more confusion and make vicious circles.
Even if it is said to be sustainable living, the process of improvement is still needed. It is not good to fix a given area to live. We have to review and refine it for nature’s sake. However, if we make a start, a lot of new ideas and creation will follow.

3-2) Low hierarchy society
At Kaiwaka, when people walk along a road, whether they are known or not, they get waves and smiles from others driving in cars or walking, young or old. Often people stop their cars to offer me lifts. It is just as Tou Enmei experienced at the Togen-kyo Village. There might be the potential to start a utopia village here. I tried to find how big it is, but most people do not know and I have not succeeded yet. I smile when I think of the generous aspect of the Kiwi mind. From my rough calculation from car rides, 10 minutes to the east, 5 minutes north, 20 minutes west and 5 minutes south at a guessed speed of 40km/hr, give 6km, 3km, 13km and 3km, respectively. This makes (6km + 13km) x (3km + 3km) = 114k
m2. Perhaps it is too rough a guess, but it can be used to imagine how far the village stretches. The population is about 850 and it spreads over 100km2, yet there is no village chief. It is really of low hierarchy. The emergency services and the fire brigade are volunteered. This shows wonderful social ethics. People think, "I am fortunate and this should be shared with others. When I am in trouble they will help me."  Kaiwakans care about me and my project. I think each person lives for themself and respects others. The reason why they don't have a mayor is that nobody is interested in such a trivial thing, I think.
Many Kiwi alternative lifestylers move to Kaiwaka from the cities and try to establish their way of living. There are many people from other countries too. A German and an English couple started an eco-village with various nationalities. A Dutch couple built their house by themselves with a lot of their ideas. An English couple has a cheese shop. A Swiss couple are going to make a village for artists and scientists from overseas. Each one makes wonderful efforts in living in their own way.

As I mentioned before, when we look at the economical society of Japan, firstly the division of labour started to change the flow. People then were divided into shoemakers, blacksmiths, weavers, carpenters, furniture makers, farmers etc,  but they still had contact with nature and had a certain extent of food self-sufficiency. After, using political and social means, an exploitative class emerged. Feudalism is an example of this.
Then national isolation ceased and Japan was opened to the world. They learnt western technologies and the days of mass production started. People started to have large amounts of energy and developed hydraulic power plants. As mass production grew, fossil fuel and atomic power provided a large part of the energy for it. Both stimulated each other and division of labour became extreme.
It is estimated that Japan had a population of forty million before it was opened at the end of the Edo era (1868). They knew about having a good balance of organic farming self-sufficiency. The population jumped to be three times greater over the next 100 years. The introduction of industrialization gave an illusion. Though the increase and popularity of medical knowledge and stimulation by the then government to increase the military forces to invade Asian countries also accelerated this increase. When we look back on history in such a way, extreme division of labour and mass production through huge energy consumption destroyed a sustainable way of living.

If there are people in the village who can make wine, butter, cheese, tofu, honey etc, i.e. lightly processed basic foods, these can be bartered. Barter is the essential distribution system at the Togen-kyo village.
Through information systems everyone can do things that were once done only by specialists during the long period where there was a division of labour. Especially in countries where individualism is developed, there is steady movement in this direction. Many cookies, dishes etc are propagated and cuisines from local places can be cooked and enjoyed by everyone. We can search for these though books, CDs, DVDs etc and on the Internet. The recent development of information networks is wonderful. Even medical checks can be done through it. Through the Internet network, and correspondence by email we encourage the liberation of individuals and the establishment of freedom beyond races and nations, and politics can be pushed into a corner.

Birds make such small and beautiful nests by themself, and fly freely in nature. Other creatures seem not to take much time nesting. Human beings do not need a large house. What is important is to live modestly, and we must not forget this principle. How much living space is needed for a four member family, indeed? We have to think over this subject in order to be able to live with it for a long time. As was stated earlier, it has been estimated at 2,500
m2. For this, family cooperation is essential. Depending on age, sex, health condition etc, work must be shared. The situation where it takes an hour and a half to cook a meal can be eased by mutual help.
To live sustainably, one has to have a good understanding of a place and stay there a reasonable period of time. If a person wants to wander, they can be a Woofer. This organisation is composed of organic farmers who have workers on their farms, offering meals and accommodation in exchange. The word is abbreviated for 'Willing workers on organic farms'. There are more than 400 farms in NZ and young people come from overseas.

If someone tries to dominate a village, they need to be removed. This is one of the fundamentals of individualism. A way of organizing tradesmen in NZ has a low hierarchy too. Each trade is clearly independent, a builder, a block-layer, an excavator, a plumber, an electrician, a plasterer etc. They worked for us in order to build the house by cooperation. Builders and tradesmen respect their own trades and those of one another and the progression of working went relatively smoothly. There are no contractors as is the system in Japan which exploits tradesmen. Each trade has its own pride in their speciality and makes an effort to understand their trade more fully and refine it. The organization seems to be similar as in Japan when tradesmen were under a carpenter chief, 'toryo'. At that time, each tradesman was properly revered for his refined work and received reasonable rewards if the chief was honest. Institutes to research widely on methods of construction are needed, but for a tradesmen's organization a low hierarchy is necessary.

Most of the people who live in large cities give up on alternative living in Japan, but there must be some people in the countryside who dream of a sustainable way of living, and we should cooperate with them. I expect the village to be composed of a variety of people, e.g., people who are interested in natural foods and keen to grow them, people who have skills in computer programming, people who are interested in science, people who like to grow fruit, people who like to grow veggies and so on. People who are interested in a particular thing are expected. I expect for the scheme to appeal to people who want to gain knowledge and are enthusiastic to have practical action and experience.
It would be a good opportunity to see how we can avoid the need to walk long distances for shopping and post, and it can be ramped up for sustainability. Mutual help in the community can ease this and self-sufficiency should work to decrease the amount and the time needed for deliveries. A representative of the village could go shopping, with a list of orders made through a computer notice board. A courier makes sense if they connect village to village for such orders.

In May 1997 I visited a village in a suburb of Beijing, China, which was aimed at sustainable living. It may have resulted from the social system of the country and the oriental character. I felt that it would be very fragile unless it can be maintained with the strong trust and respect of the people. A bird or a fish acts by itself. On the other hand, people need a chief because they are in a group. If one tends to rely on the chief, an individual can not be creative and express oneself.
A large septic tank or a methane digester was installed in the village. One issue would happen at the division of this. The system needed to burn 150kg of coal every day to warm the liquid and they collected organic substances from every corner in the village that spent energy. They used the residue for fertilizer, returning it to the field.  From the energy point of view, I had queries too. On the contrary, an Ozeki septic tank does not need any energy to warm the liquid and can be used at most by three to four families in a smaller size.

How is tax charged at the Utopia Village? How can a tax be defined for barter? How should a donation with love be treated? If one invites friends for meals, how about that? We have to support old people, handicapped people, social workers, medical personnel and researchers who work on subjects common to the society. That all of them are necessary is clear. When a community develops from a utopia village, which is based on barter, to a town, a city, or a nation, what kind of economy can be imagined?
The conformity of local societies controlled by mass production in Japan killed their culture and character. Are there any particular places that are worthwhile to visit? Ironically, this saves energy in transportation. It is sad. We have to revive and reconstruct these things including festivals. Some festivals are shown on the news, but most of them have become commercial and decadent. They should be more earthly.
The sustainable way of living means in the physical sense to find a way to keep living until solar energy finishes. For that, with natural energy, without contaminating the earth, we have to live modestly and be self-sufficient with organic farming. The social structure must be a low hierarchy with a volunteer spirit. Then any wars which aim for power will not exist any more.
For the further definition of sustainability, we have to establish a life being oneself in nature and having a creative life. Creativity will progress to the next plane after one's death and the spiritual development continuous to this must be obtained. Then, even if solar energy dies out, we can proceed to the next space.

3-3) Methods for a sustainable village
Japanese villages have developed through bureaucracy. Developments which came out of fervent discussions and creation were few, I think. In this section, social functions for a sustainable village are discussed and a few points on planning will be given. A society must always have a starting point of a low hierarchy structure.

The following functions are necessary:

* Assembly hall: stronghold for club and cultural activities. It is also used when the amphitheatre is unavailable because of rain. Accordingly it has a shoebox shape. It would be an idea to have a corner to have common PCs in this building.
* Collecting place: shopping centre including a joint shopping area. Bartering with points and mutual cooperation. A morning market can be there. Every morning children carry goods on the way to school.
* Second hand collection: second hand goods, off-cuts, left over building materials. They are also exchanged with points. A reuse and recycle system must be established in the village. All these things must be strictly classified here as well as at home.
* Library: access to information systems and databases. Necessary information is stored on CD or DVD. The development of the village or the village history must be recorded here.
* Research: done through email, fax etc, e.g. IT.
* Information Technology: contact outside the village and collection of information. How can this be obtained in reality? If IT is introduced, even the concept of a village would need to be changed.
* Amphitheatre: seasonal festivals for music and arts and large village meetings.
* Playground: mainly for school use, but also used for village recreation and used in emergencies by helicopters (see the item for medical care).
* Village workshop: Tools are bought for the village and used by villagers.
* School: we should not forget that parents are the best and most important teachers. A studying space should basically be in contact with nature. Science, which is aimed at sustainable living, must be the centre of study. Learning of so-called mass education items could be given through multi-media and videos. Children need to learn self-sufficient methods and the basic trades. On top of this, there should be a space to teach culture and arts to express dialogue with nature.
* Medical care: how should this be arranged using modern technologies? Remote diagnosis through information systems using high resolution screens with check lists in computer programs. How would emergency medical treatment take place? With nearby villages there could be a joint helicopter landing ground. A common hospital in a larger (higher level) community could be constructed in a natural place. Medication and rehabilitation could be done there, giving patients high expectations and confidence (This kind of hospital does not exist in Japan and patients become sicker.). An atmosphere of melting into nature is very important in giving a strong desire to recover. Research on the Internet on where this kind of hospitals exists should be done. In NZ, volunteer rescue groups and St Johns (ambulance service) are wonderful organizations.
* Public offices, police and fire station: they should be organized jointly and bridge the existing systems, dependent on the functions. We need a natural close cooperation in a fire, an emergency, for missing people etc. A vigilance committee should be composed with volunteer spirit. There is no such organization in Japan, but in NZ these functioning well. They work not only because of mutual help but also because they are full of love.
* Transportation: cars which use local energies, like electricity generated by watermills and windmills, alcohol from starch, methane etc are desirable. Electrical cars are a hope. However, these cars could be used commonly in the village. People should cooperate on this concept. It is expected that there will be main railways from north to south in NZ and these should be operated with hydraulic power.
* Infrastructure: how should it be allocated? It must be decided on considering and respecting the given landforms, geology, weather, existing vegetation, etc. Also from the human side, what kinds of functions are to be expected? The necessity should be first discussed, and then the layout, which may be changed after life in the village has started.
* Cooperative production: thatching material, timber, reservoir, windmill, watermill, forest, meadow etc.
* Landscaping: village overall planning to support complete self-sufficiency.

Vital foods (crops, vegies, fruits, meat) must be obtained at each family.   However, shopping other necessities outside the village, barter with other villages, cooperation to grow building materials and care for common property, etc, are fundamental for sustainable village life and have to be carefully thought over.
For organic farming, companionship, clay-ball sowing, no cultivation, multicultural etc should be used depending on the situation.
The following are considered necessary for each family/unit:

Rice (brown), potato, sweet potato (kumara)-starch, vitamins, essential amino acids
Soya beans (shoyu, tofu, miso, natto): protein
Oil (olive, black sesame-anti-oxidization)
Vegies: vitamins, fibre
Fruits, nuts: Vitamins, minerals
Seaweed: mineral, vitamins
Fish (presently with canned and dried fish): protein, mineral
Eggs: protein (not yet done at Kaiwaka, but good for biogas production and chicken tractor)
Salt: from sea water with solar cooker. The residue is used for tofu making
Wine, beer, honey (not only to get sweetness, but bees are important for flower pollination as well.)

For the time being, these are the basic foods. If we cooperate to collect seaweed and fish, and with the extraction of salt by the solar cooker, the fermentation of wine and beer, honey etc in the village, we can reach high efficiency in production. We can help each other when taking a long term trip or at a contingency. I have to do further study on what else I have to grow and produce for a better balance of nutrients.

An electrical car can be quickly developed to be of practical use.

With the same litre of petrol which car, a conventional one or an electrical one, is more efficient to run? It has been reported that the latter runs more efficiently. When a conventional car uses petrol, its efficiency is ca.13% and if the same amount of petrol is changed to electricity and an electrical car is operated, the efficiency is higher. An electrical car has become a practical possibility because of the development of a lithium ion battery. With a one time charge, it can run 160km at 140km/hr. A recent study reports that an electrical car has been developed by Keio Univ. whose  batteries can be charged to 70% in 30 minutes. It can runs 300km continuously and if it uses cheaper electricity by charging during the night, it costs only NZ$7 to run between Tokyo and Osaka (ca. 600km). The highest speed reached is 370km/hr. The lead of the battery is collected and recycled and it gets back on track (from the Internet news, April 1997). On the other hand, a new condenser type battery, a capacitor, is being developed using ammonium and carbon. We can expect great progress in these areas.

If we want to rely on energy from photosynthesis, the following calculation applies: normal plants have photosynthesis efficiency to energy estimated at 4.7 to 4.8%. The land area of the earth is 25%. If the land is covered by Y% and 40% of the energy could be converted to biogas, the following equation is possible given the 15,000 energy multiple that human beings use:

15,000 x 1/4 x Y/100 x  4.7/100 x 40/100 = 1
1 in the right hand side is the amount that the human beings need. When it is solved, Y is 1.33.

If 1.33% of the land is covered by plants and they are bio-gasified, human energy requirements can be met. However, this neglects the energy needed to take the plants to the septic tanks. If this needs the same amount of biogas energy, the 2.66% of the land must be covered.
Electrical generation by photovoltaic is less energetic than that by tree photosynthesis, and the former produces hazardous pollution, while the latter does not change the balance of the present environment. The growth of acacias and pines is so energetic that the collection of energy through them must be further studied.

When a village construction is at the practical stage, with contour lines and the site observation completed, the rolling nature and land relief should be drawn using CAD. For windmill generation, a hill top is good but there may be good spots in even a valley. Stronger wind occurs because the buildings shrink the wind flow. A part of established hydraulic power could be used to secure steady electricity for PCs and information systems. Large sized machines, e.g. a tractor, an electrical car, or even tools, should be used by each other.

In a snowy country, snow can be melted for water using ground heat. The place where the water is kept must be higher than the place where it is used, e.g. a veggie garden, a house etc. If a down flow stream is made, it can be drinkable and its heat can be used. A snow fence is a good idea using its thermal insulation character. What kind of correlation exists between wind and snow? Is a windmill applicable? Planning and designing a house for sustainability in extreme climates should be attempted. This should be done throughout the world, but it could be an idea to start with Hokkaido as a cold area and Okinawa as a hot area. This must be done with the cooperation of people in these areas.

Trees as a windbreak. This should be looked at for the village and each house. Tree plantation should be done with foresight for the coming generations. It must be habituated and the growth of building materials, e.g., thatching grass, trees for timber etc and its management planned. As long as there is a suitable climate, trees can grow in a remote area of the village because the harvesting is not needed often. To build a house how much metres of timber are necessary? For specific purposes, how many trees must be grown? The best planning is that it is important to not destroy existing nature.

Good holistic village design gives a long life. The establishment of infrastructure, the introduction of curved lines for houses and roads. Straight lines should be avoided, e.g., Geotheanom by Rudolf Steiner. Straight lines are used for simplification and are heavy. From simplification, no creative spaces are produced. Irregular and/or curved lines give us imaginary spaces. The diversity and change in taste for design, how  can this be expressed to last the life of a design? A new creative activity of design for sustainable living (if something lasts for a long time, it saves a lot of energy.). "Wabi (modestness)" and "Sabi (agedness)" are they special only in Japan?

The discussion for a Togen-kyo village scheme in this section is expressed in a sketch of Fig.2-3-1.



Fig.2-3-1 An example of the layout of a Togen-kyo village.

Fund raising for the Utopia Village (Togen-kyo) scheme

In establishing one's own sustainable living, the younger one starts, the easier and better it is both physically and mentally. As a result, one gets more new ideas and findings, and can reach toward joy. One gets leisure time when one becomes old. It is very difficult for willing people to get money to start the project and we have to raise money and make a foundation.
We need basic scientific knowledge which we can learn in the beginning and a consensus on the details of village construction. We need a master plan in the beginning as using this process will prevent troublesome problems later. We will construct a house and cultivate land for the first family to be ready to live there from the next day on. The family members will work wholly for other people. Throughout this period, volunteers will get knowledge and experience, and they will be living treasures in constructing the village. People brought up through this process will share their knowledge in constructing the next village. This is the basic strategy. However, in the early stages we need some money. Unfortunately, house design, construction, windmills, a septic tank etc are not free in this world. I wish I could construct Togen-kyo villages for sustainable living in both island countries.
Booklets will be published for fund raising:

* How to grow rice - through my experience at Kaiwaka
* Oseki septic tank - published and on sale $20
* Sustainable house design with the synthesized evaluation of an indoor climate
* Technical access to a sustainable house - compact view of this home page

We ask for your wonderful help and offer on all fronts.


(4) Co-existence with other areas (What should a city stand for? How about a country?)

To barter efficiently with other areas, the first stage is to establish the attitude of supplementing shortages from adjacent villages. If they can not supplement each other and need to go to more remote places, they can cooperate in this.
Physical distribution is connected between cities through a well established circulation system. Orders from outside come in over the network. Incoming and outgoing items are brought to the village from the bigger community. People in a shop are now just guards who are not necessary any more and can not easily control prices. Namely, the unfair exploitation by middlemen should be eliminated.
Roads are filled up by too many cars. One reason is that workplaces and homes are too far from each other. Another reason is that the division of labour makes buy variety of things and for this one has to move around. The roads are used to deliver things in between as well. If we live sustainably, the total area of roads - which is almost the same as the area taken up by residences (as shown in the statistical data of Japan) - will change dramatically.

At a road construction the conditions which are necessary for a residence should be loosened, e.g. with respect to sunlight, and they could be constructed even on slopes. Communities should be woven together. The passage for each house given in 2,500
m2can be in common use for the village. The area for cities and the roads between cities already exist. Urban renewals might need an additional 10%. The area for human living would need ca. 30% of the land which would include smaller factories. The distribution of goods from factories must be rationalised via computer programs and distribution networks so that traffic is decreased as well.

Village members who have excellent ability could be sent to a research center which is jointly founded by other Togen-kyo villages. Research results are brought back to the village. Larger projects could be done at a central institute established by the communities. Scientific progress is always important. The function and the role of a city must be defined and related to the adjacent villages. First, Togen-kyo villages exists and it is discussed how a city is needed for it. Then it should be looked back from both directions. The necessity of a larger community occurs when it gets common benefits and offers creative spaces for refining and enhancing each other. Namely a village and a city are different each other but they should well function and never compose a hierarchy. Existing venal greed and voluptuary aspects should be denied and eliminated. Appropriate aspects of a city is for it to be a centre for culture, arts, science, literature etc and it should be a place to research and develop these. It must never be lead only by economy and technology.
At the development of a new product and/or a new system, it must be well discussed how long can it serve, how much energy will be used, and how it is important for a human life.

Culture is not given but needs to be created. A city must have such functions and so we need transportation to the city. Japan is not narrow, but people are pushed into a narrow space. The railway companies are responsible for this. Our national railways had a grand idea that they could be used through every corner of the country.

Relationship of a man and a woman often gets separation. The property that has been accumulated by both is shared half on the point, which is given to the leaving person. If the person finds a new partner their points are gathered. They can be used at any time in a community of the same philosophy. Namely, progress from the past can be counted at a new place.   

Planning at an urban area

I think an apartment building should have less than four stories. If younger generation live at a higher level, any lifts are not necessary. Its example is shown in Fig.2-4-1 which was sketched by one of my students. A train of thoughts in this paper can be applied there and it makes a sense to have multi-stories. Namely, if the land of each family is gathered and a four storied apartment building is constructed there, one quarter of the gathered land is used for it and three quarters can be used for a green belt. They can enjoy growing veggies and fruits, and they get necessary amounts. Crops and drinking water must be supplied from other area, though. If each family brings 200m2, four families get 800m2. 200m2is used for the apartment building, 400m2is for a veggie garden, and 200m2is for fruits. The last 200m2can be a recreation area too. 



Fig.2-4-1 An example of an apartment building.

Even if self-sufficiency of this extent is possible to realize, it is difficult to get land in an urban area, and an infra structure is needed. It must supply drinking water and public transportation for people and crops.
Their farm work except veggies and fruits production would be asked to other people and Togen-kyo villages would produce it in response. It is included in the extra work that was mentioned earlier on.
The electricity produced by hydraulic power plants is used for the least steady consumption. If windmill generated electricity needs 160watt for each family (a refrigerator: 80watt, TV: 160watt, an electrical hood: 40watt, lights: 80watt, a washing machine: 200watt at necessity) and the apartment building has 36 families, three windmills of a 12m diameter or six windmills of 9m diameter with the wind speed of 3 to 4m/sec are necessary.

A good point of a reinforced concrete building is a large heat capacity. Accordingly, the outside thermal insulation is necessary. If its construction method is established, it would be estimated differently. For a four storied apartment building, canopies and air ventilation give comfort at upper levels and shades by deciduous trees at lower ones in summer. This is the fundamental planning for them.
The concept of UNITE by Le Corbusier is for economical efficiency of a multi-storied reinforced apartment building. It is ironical that the concept was applied for an office building first. In Japan, it has been used for an office building and an apartment building as well. And high-rise buildings got momentum because of the narrow land and frequent earthquakes. Unfortunately, the Kobe earthquake left a lot of sad stories for aged people and anxiety about the earthquake-proof construction technology. By contrast, they don't forget to have the concerto to high-rise buildings, introducing the anti-phase principle and or the damping technique. It is the basic point of the anti-phase principle that each story of a building must be flexible to move in anti-phase to an earthquake. It is possible to respond against the wind, and it is difficult for people who are sensitive to sea-sickness to keep working for long time there. A damped structure changes movement into friction heat while each story shakes. If a structure becomes large, the rising time to a shake is slow and not in time.
Should we need such high-rise buildings applying such complicated technologies? In addition, if a building gets a large earthquake, the residue distortion is left in the non-linear range, and it is not sure to be safe for the next earthquake.
For a high-rise building, in general, its response is 85% for the linear behaviour and 15% for the non-linear. Some of structure engineers do work on the 15% area.
Summer in 1995, I was invited to a workshop in Hanover, Germany, for the preparation of the World Exhibition in the year 2000. I met an American architect and he said that they got buildings already more than necessary capacity. Their buildings are saturated. It is guessed easily that Japan is closely following the situation. Do we really need such high-rise buildings more?

For a good network system, volunteer work is necessary. The scientific, technological and medical facts, including old and new, should be computer programmed and ready to be searched and accessed to use for individual's purposes, just like with a dictionary. For instance, if one wants to know the direction of the sun, one enters the longitude and latitude, time etc, necessary data are given. If one wants to know the diffracted noise level over a thick noise barrier, one enters the dimensions of the barrier, the locations of a noise source and a receiving point, one gets the receiving noise level. The parameters must be used commonly on the computer program through the subroutines and they must be well linked, which need a lot of cooperation. Many measuring systems are on analogue expression and they should be well linked to digital ones, and then for both sides.

The internet is revolutionary on a point of individual’s freedom, but it needs certain knowledge to handle and it is not yet  real freedom to everybody. It should be easier to handle, establishing a better man-machine system. Why some of them including me do not want to touch a computer? Why anxiety goes ahead? We tend to think if it would be broken. Especially for a person to rely on his hunch and scent or a person who does not like to assemble one by one, he tends to feel weak on it. I belong to them and honestly I don't like it. I do expect that it would be much easier to use.
If the network for information is thus established for people under humanitarianism, it will be an important access to the world happiness. An educational program of sustainable living for each local place should be developed and opened on the Internet. Needless to say, there are a lot of traditional trades and works which can not be obtained without practice. They should be well kept and succussed to the next generations.
It must be banned to use the Internet and Email as a means to collect individual information to use for moneymaking. The release of information will be very important. As the development of a network has a great role for individual's freedom beyond countries and regions, it is never admitted to be interrupted by computer viruses.

By the way, don’t artificial satellite waves affect or bother living things? The matter is not only for animals and insects which do not sense them, but for bacteria and viruses they might sense them and be dead by their oscillation. Then the established chained system is broken and gradually affects other existences. The whole area is exposed to them and it is difficult to find any free area. A comparison experiment is possible generating anti-phase waves. Here, I mentioned as my concern.

An architect gives vegetation on his drawing. However, he does not insist strongly at the construction, namely he does not plan it with deep consideration. He easily deletes with an eraser and changes it. It is not a good plan without knowing the vegetation. Kikuyu is a good example. It can not get rid of so easily as delete with an eraser. The present construction industry does just on the habit. Architects must recognize it clearly and react it. They have to learn much more of nature. To push people into a concrete box is to get rid of human nature. Town planers are jackals of economical activity. They just daze and blindfold a place taking natural human life away. They are fakes and shams. They should be responsible to present crazy cities. Humans must not be in frames, but a space with nature is a start for them.

It is known that fossil energy dries up sooner or later. However, they keep constructing large buildings using huge amount of energy, after then they consume a lot of energy daily. There do not arise any discussions and critics about them. The day when the fossil energy is finished will come unexpectedly quicker and suddenly, because developing countries started to use it in the same way. Then, the society will be pushed into confusion and disorder. It can be imagined that they abusively blame each other to other people's responsibility. At the time, weakened immune system will be worse, human value is little, and discrimination will be stronger.
There is no way to reform the present society. After all, we have to start to establish sustainable way of living for finding a direction. When an individual and his family are established, a village gets a meaning, and a town and a city are needed. So the city must be the centre of culture and science for the area. Active rumination must occur, and lively and vivid flow of exchange and development will follow.
A country must function to eliminate persecution and oppression inside as well as outside and protect an individual's cultural, scientific and other creative activities to be able to proceed safely and peacefully. And each country in the world creates its own identity having the space to polish and refine with each other.

Kyoto city, one of the oldest cities in Japan, offered a competition for its future plan in 1998 to the world. It was a nice opportunity for me to think over city planning based on sustainable living. The paper is shown in Chapter 5.


(5) A bridge to the next generation

As I mentioned at the section on rice growing, if each one's experience on sustainable living is gathered, the same amount of knowledge and learning is obtained as through many years, and development becomes faster. More people appreciate them too.
Each one's experience, knowledge and learning are collected, being referred, and they are left for following generations to progress.
It is very important for me to leave my experience and results for younger people. They will be discussed and live among them, even they are denied or agreed. Accordingly, I could keep joining them to solve the subject for the soul world.

At a certain stage of the project, tools and devices should be left for reusing and recycling improving them further. Japanese traditional wooden farm tools and devices should be well kept and reused. Such a movement is necessary after a good research of them.
We need not to be apprehensive for economical activity when we will be sustainable. Even new enterprises are possible. Any excuses against the concept are not acceptable if it is of its stagnation. Examples: Ozeki septic tank, the one by recycled plastic, solar cooker and oven, condenser battery, things for windmill etc. A few others are given in the next section.
Vegetation, land use etc should be thought for coming generations. We should grow enough building materials like cypress, ceder, kauri, kuta thatching grass etc, and leave rice paddies, veggie gardens, sustainable houses and so on.

A few comments on early child education:
The present education is deformed by materialism. The importance of environments must be strongly taught then. The parents who do sustainable living are the best teachers. Education must not be directed to materialism but towards sustainable living. They must learn to respect culture brought up in the local nature, and get genuine and nature-respecting human minds.


(6) Some items left for later

Items under discussion are given in this section. They are not well arranged. I expect people to join to challenge them and help me for calculation, experiments, works etc.

Commodities
Telephone books are used under my pc to change easily direction and  height. If they are made by drawers of similar dimensions with a bit of frictions in between, they would be useful.

If a dry avocado's shell is lacquered and placed on a bamboo ring, it could be used as a holder or a container.
Curvature on a surface could be found by rolling sphere balls of different diameters.

When water from a tap drops gently on the rear of a tea spoon, it gives regular waves. Does the shape changes its non-linear behaviour into the linear one?

A few ways of cooking rice were introduced in this home page. They should be investigated how energy consumptions are different, how much time do they need, and so on.

Health care
It needs landscaping at the native trees area, (1) to do it like a Japanese garden and (2) to have a jogging course.

Multi-variable analysis, especially the theory of quantification II could find the most influencing factors on a cancer and we should try to find the way to overcome it.

Think when I would get gout and keep having medicines every day, when I would get diabetes and have limited foods, or when I would get hyperlipemia and couldn't finish my life without fulfilling the duty. Don't drink too much, Yoshi. Imagine when I would be suffered from sickness. It is the wisdom to prevent it. Stretch yourself every day.

Each one's character looks to be related somewhat to a blood type. If we could find the distances between A, B, O, and AB, the hybrid combination might result in a creative character. It maybe a bit profanes deed.

Biogas
The data analysis about biogas amount from the past record must be done sooner or later.
It is a good idea to monitor how fast biogas rises at the Ozeki septic tank after 0kPa. Biogas production will be known for the transient.

The residue in the third section of the Ozeki septic tank maybe suppress such as ringworm. If it is mixed into compost which is produced under aerobic condition, it could eliminate the stress at the digestion of nutrients. The research on anaerobic activity is very important, indeed. 

I was told that they decompose excrement using enzyme in France. It is reasonable to give garbage together in the Ozeki septic tank. The enzyme helps decomposition, I guess.

How different the gas comes back from the first section to the one at the kitchen?

Methane gas is thought to be abundant. It is a good idea to get hydrogen from it. It can be used for a fuel cell. In Japan practically it is used for an electrical generator and to operate a personal computer. However, there are a few items to be discussed, e.g., the energy balance in total, the harmfulness onto the earth environments and so on.
Prof.M.Ichikawa at Hokaido Univ. invented a ceramic catalyst which works on methane gas from cows to change into benzene and hydrogen. Giving 750℃ and ca.5 atmospheric pressure to the methane and mixing his catalyst, 15% of the gas reacts and produces benzene and hydrogen. The hydrogen is used for a fuel cell. It would need a large sized system to establish using enormous amount of methane gas. It must not be used to compose a hierarchy.

Researches on reaction and behaviour under the anaerobic condition are important:

*What is happening at each stage?
*What is generated?
*How long does it keep going?
*What is the energy source?
*What is fermentation and how it occurs?

Rice growing
I encountered the second tough weed, couch grass. It is named Agropyronrepens, or called Himekamoji-gusa or Shibamugi in Japan. It is in the same family as rice grass. It has been suppressed by plastic sheet covering.

A disease is concerned which is called Youshou-katsuben-byo. Where did it come from?

A ramming pump pumps up water using the water stream. It does not need any power.

How to prevent the invasion of rats before harvest?

Are there any better species which have developed in colder areas e.g. Hokkaido or Korea?

Solar energy
The popularisation of a solar panel is quite behind in Japan because of the water freezing in winter. To prevent it:
(1)When night radiation is expected to be large, it must be covered on the surface with a silver sheet with thermal insulation beneath to reflect the negative radiation.
Ref: the amount of night radiation must be compared related to weather. How different is it on a rainy night?
(2)Though a solar panel is thermally insulated in the rear, further insulation should be given even at the sides.
(3)Is there any possibility to avoid it with changing dimensions?
All the above discussions must be done on the transient formula.

About the night sky radiation:
(1) The glass surface of the solar panel was dewed, and
(2) The dew was frozen to ice on the surface next morning.
were observed on a winter day. The phenomena tell that the black surface radiates heat as well absorbing the direct and sky radiation.
(1) The black surface has already low temperature in the evening.
(2) It becomes much lower in the morning when the air temperature was bellow zero.
One night, the outside air temperature was 8deg, the bed room had 14deg, and the solar room 11deg. The negative sky radiation must be counted for indoor climate estimation, else it can not be explained that the temperature in the solar room becomes lower than other surrounding rooms in the night. 

The solar panel takes only the positive day time radiation into the hot water cylinder, the cold water in its bottom does not move in the night and the flow occurs only in the day time with the thermo-siphon. On the other hand, the surface temperature of a house is taken by the negative night radiation. Namely, on the surface of the solar panel the temperature gets positive and negative radiation but the hot water cylinder gets only the positive. It looks like the combined behaviour of a rectifier and a battery.

Temperature differences in the experimental house are 18deg in winter (the basement 12deg and the solar room 30deg) and 39deg in summer (the basement 16deg and the solar room 55deg). Is it possible to use it for temperature difference electric generation?

How the global warming would be at the finish of petrol?  For the earth that is covered by the great energy of the sun, how much portion does the petrol energy occupy in the whole biomass?

Indoor climate
If a location is planned to build a house, the conditions for thermal comfort in the house are given. For typical possible combinations of them, such as dimensions of openings, thermal insulation factors of the boundary, heat capacity, air gaps etc, various calculations should be worked out at a model house. We could be prepared for an approximate preparatory planning, extracting general concepts from them. For instance, a small house would be recommended there. When weather allows, the living space is stretched to a balcony or a deck.

Comparison of the total energy to be obtained and to be used through a year should be done. Having its good observation, how energy collection should be done depending on the time pattern will be discussed.

The ceiling of the living room is thermally insulated and does not have any ventilation holes to be connected to the solar room. It will be observed how the living room will be air conditioned in summer by (1) the heat transfer of the basement air temperature through the floor and (2) the Venturi effect around ventilation holes on the floor. If it is cool enough, the solar room is not necessary for the purpose.
How much energy can be obtained with a movable glass house in front of the northern bed room in winter?

Energy by photosynthesis
The energy that collected by a tree opens our eyes wide. Acacias, radiate pines, willows etc. We often burn them directly to energy, we do carbonate them to charcoal, but we usually do not burn them to get electricity. How about such a generator at each family?

The production process of chlorophyll is used for a battery. If the energy is from the photosynthesis, Kikuyu can be used more efficiently, because its photosynthesis efficiency is 8.1%, while the others have only 4.7 to 4.8%. 

Architectural environmental engineering
Learning the Acoustic behaviour at every corner on the stage, where choirs, music instruments etc should be played?

After a language was introduced, its sound level is saturated and had to be logarithmic. The non-linear process in the hearing system works in the same way on a pure tone and a broad band sound, and each system has its own transient response, I believe.
There must be a time window when the visual sensitivity works. The temporal comparison on auto-correlation must be done as well. Thermal sensation must have a time window too and judge the present sensation being correlated with the near past. The loudness and annoyance sensation for a noise are done with the correlation of the near past impression.
In such a way, it is interesting to find the common characters of the three different sensations about each time window and auto-correlation.

When hot water was remaining in the bottom of an electrical pot whose top is much narrower than the bottom, and warm water was filled the pot, the hot water moved to the top quickly. The reason looks to have the wider bottom. It could be possible to design a hot water cylinder.

A year, a month and a day are understandable to be defined in the universe. However, seven days in a week and typical working hours from 9am to 5pm, aren't they defined by people? The latter must be changed depending at least on seasons.

Architectural education at a present university lost the standpoint of a human's living space. For instance, the non-linear analysis on structural engineering is far to the next.


Resume of this chapter

I live my life to be able to jump and slide wonderfully to the next plane. It is not for other people but for me. I must not impose anybody my thought. My purpose is to live successively to the next world.
Sustainable living→freedom and liberation→joyful life→the next world. Believing there will be new further development, I have to image and picture it.
The individualism on sustainable living gives a great open and free space to solve the last human subject, the world after death.
For the realization of sustainable living, the expression that we can live as long as the sun is, is the source and origin of materialism. We have to surmount and overcome the concept and obtain spiritual development. It means the progressive evolution to the next space.
We have to recognize that human beings and existences on the earth spend just a part of the long history. Then, it is thought that a moment which is different of time and space is given.
One's life is not only for his generation. It must be succussed for the next generation's spiritual progress and development, because solution for the sole and spiritual world can not be found without cooperation beyond generations. Each one leaves unconsciously its footprint and effect.
On a different view, God might direct him to come back to the earth and keep pursuing the subject. There comes the possibility of reincarnation. However, the above discussion is preceded by thinking, and is not followed on the reality of sustainable way of living.

Am I looking for a transient process, do we have to go back olden times? I don't think so. I want to live sustainably for a longer time and aim and find progress.
The way mentioned here to live in sustainable is actually quite low quality level of living. Namely, it is not difficult to live having such huge energy from the sun.
Now, how is it in the sole world? It does not look to use at least any visible energy there. It looks to be possible to live without any supply of energy from outside. It means that our movement to the next plane, i.e., death is the evolution itself. It is appealed that this process of progressive movement is solved on sustainable living in the next 4.5 billions of years, I think.

If we put an emphasis on rationalization and efficiency, we have to follow the same trace as we do. We have to be careful.
Namely, we must not forget to live in modest. "It is inexpensive." is not enough. It should be inexpensive and no harm to environments and there must exist the longing for rich creative space as the concept.
On our eating habit, we must not look for only tasty foods, but first think nutrient balance and in modest, because we live for thinking the meaning of a life. However, it is very important to cook given foods of own harvest most tasty, and it is a joy.

Birds, fish and animals, flowers, trees and grass, and wind, seas and rivers, to these great nature, solar energy must be shared fairly and properly. It is absolute to keep and maintain the space and environments that are created by God. It is said that a joy is an impulse from God. There the concept to live in modest is introduced. It must be warned to use the whole solar energy of 15,000 times the energy that we use and live in luxury. Instead we should feel the greatness that maintains our earth. However, we should be encouraged because the whole energy we use is 1/15,000 of the solar energy and sustainable living is just possible and practical.
We have to educate young people about it and prepare to entrust to them. On the point of view of profiteering solar energy, human beings are most greedy. We are referred to the most active bacteria on an organic body. We have to learn from the noble way of living by other creatures. And we need to teach and educate about it from childhood.

Human beings themselves make not to see the great nature. The relationship between human beings and the universe is the fundamental for them to exist. A starry sky is one of it, the expression of rare species to die out without enjoying a life together is such an inestimable loss. This understanding is completely forgotten. The expression of them can not be seen any more. The recognition of 'how large the sadness is' is out of mind.
Life style will be changed to be affected directly by climate and weather. It is actually the space where we talk to nature and learn from it. Then we feel much closer to it and know more of it. We will approach to the enlightenment.
The discussion on sustainability must not be fixed. The development of science must not stay but advance. However, it must go forward from nature. This attitude must be kept. It must be developed, bravely and intellectually, though we have to know that it is only shallow mind of human beings.

Any beings can basically live with solar energy. Nothings are difficult. The beings other than human are doing well. In our practical life, it is not that easy to establish sustainable way of living and the cooperation with many people is necessary. If it is done, how wonderful it would be.
If a society on individualism under low hierarchy is established, any power systems can not be constructed. Power struggles will never occur there. We should stop power struggles and wars right now, and do efforts to “live” until the sun dies. If this concept of sustainability will be in practice, a little temporary confusion might occur. However, human wisdom will find a wonderful direction towards it.
Middle-aged and aged generations, let's think better further lives, and change and evolute the present society with courage and bravery.