Since a proposed GIAHS site is assessed based on the five key criteria and an action plan stipulated by FAO, every GIAHS site should fulfill at least all five of these criteria. However, the way to meet these five criteria is different in each site according to its characteristics. Some GIAHS sites focus more on the landscape aspect while others focus more on traditional knowledge, such as the farming methods for specific crops. Therefore, we found that the current 62 worldwide designations of GIAHS can be classified into three types: 1) landscape type; 2) farming method type; and 3) genetic resource conservation type.

The landscape type is an Agricultural Heritage System centered on a landscape like “Satoyama”, that is a regional unit that develops activities of agriculture, forestry and fisheries on the land. The components of the landscape, such as farmland, hinter forest, river, irrigation canal/pond and human settlements, are closely interlinked and interconnected. It could also include watershed areas that are considered essential for the farming environment and agro-ecology.

The farming method type focuses on a specific traditional farming method that is unique to the traditional agricultural system and effective for the conservation of biodiversity. It is relatively easy to identify the farmland on which the specific traditional farming method is practiced.

The genetic resource conservation type is where globally important genetic resources are conserved through the continual practice of the traditional agricultural system.

According to this typology, we proposed a classification of the 62 current GIAHS designated by FAO, including the Japanese GIAHS sites (Table 4). More than half of the GIAHS are the landscape type with 33 sites (53%), followed by 17 sites (28%) of the farming method type and 12 sites (19%) of the genetic resource conservation type. Some of these GIAHS are also located in urban or sub-urban areas, such as Xuanhua Grape Garden of China and Ayu of the Nagara River System of Japan, which indicates that traditional agricultural systems are not necessarily limited to the rural context.

From this typology, it is found that the majority of Japanese GIAHS could be classified as the landscape type (8 sites or 73%), with the remaining sites placing more emphasis on their farming method (3 sites or 27%), while none of the sites had prominent genetic resources. This could be because Japanese GIAHS are often build upon the “Satoyama” concept and the GIAHS site areas also include watershed areas, hinter forests and grasslands which may not be agriculturally productive land per se but are nonetheless important components to the holistic functioning of the rural environment (Reyes et al., 2020). The landscape type GIAHS focuses not only on agricultural farmlands, such as paddy fields and upland fields, but also emphasizes a certain extent of ecological cohesion of the surrounding environments, including hinter forests, rivers and other watershed connections. The landscape type GIAHS that have been designated around the world so far have also acknowledged that these landscapes are maintained by the local community and their culture, including even non-farmer residents. Moreover, from the aspects of agroecology and biodiversity conservation, a broader and more encompassing inclusion of diversity at the ecosystem level is also essential, rather than dealing only with the farming ecosystems in isolation. It is this understanding of the importance that the rural environment must be an integrated, holistic landscape that explains why more than half of the GIAHS designated around the world at this point are of the landscape type. However, the recent FAO requirements seem to overemphasize the mapping and boundaries of sites that include only the directly related farmlands, as set out in “Guidelines for making GIAHS Proposal Document” (FAO,2020). This narrow perception of the complexity and connectivity of the GIAHS landscape with its surrounding environments may lead to the risk of an incomplete understanding of the GIAHS and restrict future conservation activities to only a small portion of the total GIAHS area.

One-quarter of Japanese GIAHS still maintain prominent traditional farming methods despite fierce competition in the highly modernized and mechanized agriculture in Japan, suggesting that such methods are truly time-tested and sustainable practices. However, while most Japanese GIAHS also have traditional crops and local livestock species, such genetic resources have not been emphasized very much. Future conservation efforts could consider making an inventory or record of the genetic resources of the Japanese GIAHS for more effective conservation.

In Japan, although there are many national subsidies available to and commonly used in rural farming areas that could include GIAHS sites, there are no direct subsidies from the national government that target GIAHS sites exclusively (Yiu et al., 2016). In other words, the municipalities or communities of Japanese GIAHS do not receive direct funding or subsidies for their GIAHS designation from the national government either upon or after GIAHS designation. Therefore, applicants to GIAHS are expected to have their own financial and funding capacities to ensure and prove the sustainability of the GIAHS after designation, rather than relying on national subsidies. GIAHS conservation activities are then based on self-help efforts, depending on how individual GIAHS sites intend to make the best of their designation through marketing efforts or fund pooling from interest holders, or other means.

There are many GIAHS conservation activities implemented by local governments and local stakeholders in Japan, such as tourism, branding, eco-payments, and education. For example, in Sado GIAHS region, the residents of the small settlement themselves take on the role of guides for the rice terraces. In Noto GIAHS region, elderly farmers run a farmers’ inn and approximately 50 farm households receive more than 10000 guests every year. Regarding branding, almost all GIAHS sites have their own GIAHS logos and use them effectively for marketing their products. Some GIAHS sites have their own certification schemes for their products as a kind of eco-payment. For example, in Shizuoka GIAHS region, “Tea produced by GIAHS Traditional Tea-grass Integrated System practitioner” is displayed on tea products according to the certified effort and contribution towards maintenance of the tea-grassland which conserves biodiversity. In Oita GIAHS region, learning GIAHS in the schools is implemented by using animation in elementary schools, “delivery class” in junior high schools and interviews with senior farmers in senior high schools.

To attain economic sustainability and secure livelihoods, Japanese GIAHS emphasizes raising the awareness of GIAHS, attracting tourists to GIAHS sites, and other marketing efforts to add value and to be able to sell GIAHS agricultural products at higher prices. Although the national government, that is MAFF, do not give direct subsidies, the Ministry contributes to the efforts on raising awareness of GIAHS, such as holding events and media outreach. On the national policy basis, GIAHS has also been stipulated as a policy mechanism in the Basic Plan on Food, Agriculture and Rural Areas, which has been decided by the Cabinet since 2015 and is reassessed every five years based on the Basic Law on Food, Agriculture and Rural Areas.

In many countries, the state convenes national meetings of the GIAHS sites, whereas Japanese GIAHS sites form voluntary nationwide networks without direct national government involvement. These networks include the “Inter-prefectural Committee for GIAHS partnership” comprised of the prefectural governments and the “J-GIAHS Network” formed by the municipality governments. The related meetings, workshops and joint events have been organized jointly and voluntarily, with a prefecture or municipal government taking the annual chairmanship of each respective network on a rotating basis. However, these two networks were integrated in December 2020 to avoid the duplication of efforts. The new network consists of prefectures, municipalities and organizations such as GIAHS Promotion Associations in GIAHS sites, with MAFF, UNU, FAO Liaison Office in Japan, and others participating as advisors and observers. Their activities include improving the quality of efforts such as utilizing and conserving GIAHS, raising awareness of GIAHS, sharing and disseminating international information and contributions, establishing a unified domestic structure, and holding workshops. J-NIAHS sites are not included in this network, but they are invited to the events such as workshops.

As mentioned above, to ensure the sustainable conservation of GIAHS, GIAHS communities must be able to increase their income by effectively utilizing their GIAHS designation. In many countries, GIAHS are protected from the pressures of urban development. However, in the case of Japan, GIAHS must be protected from other pressures as well, such as the challenges caused by depopulation due to the aging of the local population, lack of successors, abandonment of farmland, and wildlife damages. For that purpose, GIAHS designation must be utilized to increase the number of tourists and add value to the agricultural products sold at the site. This will only be largely effective with increased awareness of GIAHS. Unfortunately, even after ten years, the recognition of GIAHS in Japan is still not high. The national and local governments are also making efforts to raise awareness of GIAHS by using various outreach tools such as promotion events, websites, symposia and workshops. Still, it is necessary to strengthen such activities further to raise the awareness of people through more creative means and reach a wider audience.

The population of rural Japan, including GIAHS sites, is aging. On the other hand, GIAHS designation brings confidence and pride to the younger generation in the GIAHS sites. In GIAHS sites, in order to pass on GIAHS to the younger generation, the education on GIAHS is customized according to the educational stages: Elementary school, junior high school, and high school. MAFF also holds events related to GIAHS research for high school students. Education on GIAHS for the younger generation can be carried out at a relatively low cost with the understanding and cooperation of the stakeholders concerned. In the future, it will be necessary to strongly educate and promote passing on GIAHS to the younger generation, who will be responsible for and support GIAHS in the future.

Effective monitoring and evaluation are essential to take stock of progress, introduce timely interventions and motivate stakeholders with the results of their efforts. In Japan, each GIAHS site is responsible for the monitoring of GIAHS conservation activities, often based on a five-year Action Plan. In the last year of the Action Plan, or based on the activities of the previous fiscal year, MAFF will conduct monitoring and evaluation of the respective GIAHS whereby the Japan GIAHS/NIAHS Scientific Committee will evaluate the self-assessment reports submitted by the GIAHS sites. The Action Plan should include indicators and targets, in quantitative terms as much as possible, and specify who should and how to conduct monitoring and evaluation. However, there are no concrete standards required of the GIAHS sites, so this system lacks uniformity and equality, as some may report less while others may report more since they are free to decide on their own reporting scope. However, studies have shown that there are some common characteristics and indicators which can be taken into consideration to enhance and enforce the monitoring and evaluation efforts in Japan (Kohsaka and Matsuoka,2015; Reyes et al., 2020). Thus, Japan could improve the monitoring and evaluation methodologies to ensure greater effectiveness and uniformity of the exercise. The Japanese GIAHS should also view the monitoring and evaluation process positively, as an opportunity to improve their actions and report the outcomes to the public in order to generate greater interest and awareness.

Since GIAHS sites have been designated as globally important, it is necessary for them to connect with the world. In October 2013, China, Japan and South Korea agreed to the Chinese proposal to establish the East Asia Research Association for Agricultural Heritage Systems (ERAHS). The ERAHS Conference has been organized every year since 2014, except for 2020, with the three countries rotating as the host country. Six ERAHS conferences have been held so far, and most of the Japanese GIAHS sites have actively participated every year. In addition, based on the concept of “twinning of GIAHS” as endorsed by the Noto Communique of the 2013 GIAHS International Conference, some GIAHS sites are actively engaged in exchanges with overseas GIAHS sites, which include training and capacity building activities for the GIAHS in developing nations. GIAHS sites could also tap into their sister cities network, and promote interest and understanding of GIAHS, regardless of whether their counterparts are located in developing or developed countries, as Japan can be a role model to both. It is necessary for the Japanese GIAHS to continue to promote international cooperation in order to generate global interest and support for GIAHS, which will help them maintain and utilize their own GIAHS.

Reflecting on the ten years of GIAHS designations in Japan, while much still awaits improvements to enhance the effectiveness of conservation, the GIAHS designation has stimulated policy interventions and academic research. Local policy schemes are introduced to promote multiple stakeholder conservation efforts (Qiu et al.,2014), fund pooling (Yiu, 2014), product certification (Kajima et al., 2017), and agro-tourism (Chen et al., 2018), etc., as well as increasing research related to biodiversity status (Hayashi, 2014; Inagaki and Kusumoto, 2014), non-market food production and consumption patterns (Kamiyama et al., 2016), cultural features (Kajihara et al., 2018) and landscape connectivity (Hara et al., 2018), etc. within the GIAHS sites. Such GIAHS activities have not only snowballed interest from outside, but they have also reframed the sense of pride among the local people amidst the dim realities of the increasingly depopulated and aged rural communities of Japan. Henceforth, GIAHS designations in Japan have been meaningful and are necessary, as Professor Takeuchi, who introduced GIAHS to Japan, stressed “ we cannot restore traditional agriculture, forestry and fishery systems passed down to us from our ancestors once they are lost. It is imperative for us to transfer such invaluable agriculture, forestry and fishery systems to the next generations, including through the cooperation of various actors to add further value to agricultural, forestry and fishery products with GIAHS designation” (Yiu and Nagata,2018). GIAHS designations in Japan have inspired the awakening of its people from all walks of life in coming together as one to inherit their agricultural heritage, through rediscovering their cultural values and pride and rethinking about sustainable production and harmonious living with nature.