During the past forty years Masanobu Fukuaka has witnessed with indignation the degeneration of both the land and of japanese society.  In those years the japanese have followed single-mindedly the American model of economic and industrial development, abandoning their rich heritage of working closely and simply with their land.  Mr. Fukuoka, however, was determined not to forsake traditional farming.  Instead, he refined it so that his natural farming method requires less labor and less disruption of nature than any other, while maintaining the same yeilds per acre as his farmer neighbors.