HF/HX

Finding fulfilment through farming
Hiroyo Hasegawa
23rd July, 2009

Growing in popularity in Japan, a new environmental lifestyle choice is helping people grow their own food, reconnect with the land and pursue more fulfilling vocations

Snips from edited article:

First proposed in the mid-1990s by Naoki Shiomi, the Half-Farmer/Half-X (HF/HX) lifestyle means people growing their own food while at the same time being constructively involved in society by realising their own personal passion – the ‘X’ in the equation.

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Abandoning the 20th-century style of mass production, mass consumption, mass disposal and long-distance transportation, HF/HX points the way to happier lives and a more sustainable world.

Living the HF/HX lifestyle back in his rural hometown of Ayabe, Shiomi has discovered that less money and more spiritual enrichment results in contentment. Numbers have increased nationwide in recent years. HF/HXers are content with their lives, consuming less and so finding less need to consume. In addition, because agriculture is part of their daily lives, they cannot help but shift their focus to the natural world. They soon develop what Rachel Carson called a ‘sense of wonder’ in their environment.

One of the reasons Shiomi recommends HF/HX is that it allows adherents simultaneously to enhance their farming and vocational lives. In the act of growing things, people experience and begin to harmonise with nature, connected in mind and body to the cycles of life.