A Study on Museum Business for Conservation and Sustainable Use of Agricultural Heritage-a Case of Japan

In human history, the beginning of agriculture has brought a revolution in the cultural development by growing crops and domesticating livestock getting out of hunting and gathering. It is certain that agriculture played a major role in history before society was industrialised as the foundation of survival of the human race. Its natural as well as cultural heritage has kept evolving and developing until now. Agricultural heritage means remarkable land use system and landscapes which maintain biodiversity evolving from the co-adaptation of a local community with its environment and aspirations for sustainable development. It is related to the history and culture of humanity, including country houses, orchards, mills, terraces, crops, irrigation channels, wells, farmyards, traditional festivities, gastronomy, indigenous species, landscapes and etc. Based on a peculiar farming style of the place a museum is located, most museums of such agricultural heritage present the traditional rural living culture which continues till lately. Such a wide range of tangible and intangible agricultural heritage as unused buildings of abandoned barns and mills, farming tools from sickles and scythes to tractors, local specialties and food is deeply rooted in our daily lives, which is presented in various types of museums. In this sense, a direction of agricultural museums is viewed through various attempts by the Biwako Museum and MieMu which present co-existence of people and nature through forestry and fishery as well as agriculture, the Food and Agriculture Museum and Tsukuba Agriculture Research Hall which suggest future-oriented agricultural technology, biodiversity and conservation of ecosystem for sustainable development.