"In his densely detailed, long-term study of Ogata-mura, Wood has taken us a lifetime away from the first studies of Japanese villages carried out by foreigners in the 1930s and 1950s… Wood presents an excellent analysis of the conflict between the view held by some residents that farming is a way of life and the conviction by others that it is a business like any other. The authorities have proved remarkably tone-deaf to the implications of this contrast, not only in Ogata-mura, but on the national level as well. Wood is able to provide a degree of detail that most ethnographers would envy.” · Asian Anthropology“This is a very interesting text written about a very important subject. The ‘saga’ of Ogata-mura speaks to a number of issues (agriculture, rural development, centralized bureaucratic planning, ecological impact and other such areas) that are very important for modern Japan and, by extension, many other societies.” · John Mock, Temple University Japan