Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 66. Chapters: Miyamoto Musashi, Masanobu Fukuoka, Dogen, D. T. Suzuki, Masao Abe, Yamazaki Ansai, Hajime Tanabe, Hakuin Ekaku, Ikki Kita, Ito Jinsai, Hagiwara Hiromichi, Kumazawa Banzan, Hayashi Razan, Kuki Shuzo, Arai Hakuseki, Ogyu Sorai, Matsudaira Sadanobu, Yamaga Soko, Hayashi Gaho, Kojin Karatani, Motoori Norinaga, Tetsuro Watsuji, Saneatsu Mushanokoji, Ninomiya Sontoku, Nishi Amane, Nakae Chomin, Takaaki Yoshimoto, Kitaro Nishida, Raphael von Koeber, Kaibara Ekken, Hayashi Hoko, Hirata Atsutane, Tomonubu Imamichi, Kiyoshi Miki, Umehara Takeshi, Kitamura Tokoku, Hiroki Azuma, Toju Nakae, Miura Baien, Hayashi Ryuko, Keiji Nishitani, Hajime Nakamura, Keian Genju, Kuroda Kan'ichi, Masaharu Taniguchi, Akira Yamada, Masakazu Nakai, Hyakuzo Kurata, Yasuhiko Kimura, Seiichi Hatano, Itsuo Tsuda, Miyake Setsurei, Yanagi Soetsu, Shin'ichi Hisamatsu, Kamo no Mabuchi, Ueyama Shunpei, Sadayoshi Fukuda, Inoue Tetsujiro, Ikeda Mitsumasa, Shizuteru Ueda, Fujiwara Seika, Ando Shoeki, Aizawa Seishisai, Ryosen Tsunashima, Yoichiro Murakami, Shunsuke Tsurumi, Tetsuzo Tanikawa. Excerpt: Masanobu Fukuoka Fukuoka Masanobu, 2 February 1913 - 16 August 2008) was a Japanese farmer and philosopher celebrated for his Natural Farming method and re-vegetation of desertified lands. He was a proponent of no-till, no-herbicide grain cultivation farming methods traditional to many indigenous cultures. His method is commonly referred to as 'Natural Farming' or 'Do-nothing Farming' of which he is considered to be its father. He was the author of several Japanese books, scientific papers and other publications, and was featured in television documentaries and interviews from the 1970s onwards. His influences went beyond farming to inspire individuals within the natural food and lifestyle movements. Fukuoka was born on 2 February 1913 in Iyo, Ehime, Japan, the second son of an educated and wealthy land owner, a local leader called Kameichi Fukuoka. He attended Gifu Prefecture Agricultural College and trained as a microbiologist and agricultural scientist, beginning a career as a research scientist, specialising in plant pathology, at the Plant Inspection Division of the Yokohama Customs Bureau in 1934. In 1937 he was hospitalised with pneumonia. During his recovery, he stated that he had a profound spiritual experience that transformed his world view. This experience led him to doubt the practices of modern 'Western' agricultural science. He immediately resigned from his post as a research scientist, returning to his family's farm on the island of Shikoku in southern Japan. From 1938, Fukuoka began to practise and experiment with new techniques on organic citrus orchards and used the observations gained to develop the idea of "Natural Farming" or shizen noho ( ) in Japanese. Amongst other practices, he abandoned pruning an area of the citrus trees, which caused the trees to become affected by insects and tangled branches. He stated that the experience taught him the difference between nature and non-intervention. His efforts were interrupted by World War II, du