Diversity in Japan

1929

The collection and study of the array of cultivated plants demonstrated before one’s own eyes the decidedly special character of the cultivated flora, which no doubt has originated independently from the ancient agricultural crops of southwestern Asia. Hundreds of plants seem to be endemic in China and Japan. The majority of these plants still have wild relatives in either China or Japan. There is an absolutely amazing wealth of wild fruits: cherries, plums, apricots, apples and pears. Here, the introduced crops of barley, rice and wheat have been subjected to great changes by the monsoon climate, which has led to development of special subspecies or peculiar groups. Heavy showers, falling in the middle of the summer and promoting destruction through fungal diseases, have therefore led to natural and artificial selection, which in eastern Asia has taken very different forms, such as quickly forming grains and lengthening or shortening of the awns, or grains of small size. Barley and wheat are distinguished by low growth, small grains, small-size ears and developmental differences.

In spite of its limited territory Japan has about 80 million inhabitants [in 1929], that is, twice as many as Great Britain or France. ^[1] The general area under cultivation is determined to be 20 million hectares, ^[2] of which rice takes first place, followed by wheat and barley. An enormous area is occupied by citrus fruits, pears and quince, which form the general background of the villages. In Japan mandarin and other oranges correspond to apples in Europe. Whole baskets of first-class mandarins (of the ‘unshu’ brand) are sold for unbelievably low prices.

Just like the Chinese centre of agriculture, Japan is characterized by a large number of plants, which include representatives both of the moderate subtropics and, particularly in the south, of the tropical zone as well. The vegetable as well the animal food of the Japanese and the Chinese, especially the latter, is extremely variable in respect of composition: shoots of various species of bamboo, a multitude of cultivated water plants including Zizania latifolia [Griseb.] Turcz. a grass, cultivated for its diseased, inflated leaf sheaths, edible burdock [Arctium lappa L.], peculiar kinds of cabbages, radishes, a multitude of dishes made of soyabeans (substituting for fat and including a cheese called ‘tofu,’ a soya product) and a lot of fruits prepared in all possible ways. This is the common composition of the vegetable food of the Chinese and the Japanese.

As far as the wealth of endemic species of cultivated plants is concerned, Japan and China can be singled out among the other ancient agricultural centres of the world. Each of these species is, as a rule, represented by a large number of varieties. The varieties of soyabeans, ‘adzuki’ beans [Vigna angularis [Wild.] Ohwi & H. Obashi] and persimmons [Diospyros kaki L. f.], as well as of citrus fruits, amount, literally, to many hundreds of easily distinguishable forms. If, in addition to the cultivated plants, the large number of wild plants utilized in China are taken into account it becomes more understandable how the hundreds of millions of inhabitants can exist there.

1. Estimated figures for July 2008, from the CIA World Handbook, are Japan 127 million, France 62 million and United Kingdom (not Great Britain) 61 million. [↩]
2. Currently about 4.6 million hectares. [↩]

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