It is becoming more difficult for local farmers alone to maintain the small terraced rice fields in mountainous regions due to depopulation and an aging population, in addition to the difficulty of bringing in the necessary machinery into these areas. The decline of the farming industry not only leads to the loss of paddy-field ecosystems, but also directly results in the destruction of mountains and forests that play vital roles of recharging water sources and preserving the soil system, thereby threatening the existence of town areas. Kamiechigo Yamazato Fun Club runs the Terraced Rice Field School to teach people traditional techniques and knowledge through rice cultivation of terraced rice fields, and the social functions provided by terraced rice fields. Its main activities, in order to create new links between urban areas and farming communities and encourage the participation of people from urban areas in the maintenance of terraced rice fields and regional promotion, are
(1)the maintenance and management of regional terraced rice fields by graduates of the Terraced Rice Field School,
(2)the digitization of traditional techniques and knowledge,
(3)and the collection of data to understand the current situation of terraced rice fields.