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That's fascinating - you would think they would have some sort of access to sheep, alpaca, goats, or something that could provide wool. I went down a bit of a

• kevin_thibedeau 7y ago
  They never practiced any form of mass animal husbandry. Arable land for fodder would be at a premium for human consumption. Stripping the mountainsides are a danger in earthquake country.
  • elhudy 7y ago
    Found another really interesting paper on this idea that animal husbandry was never really practiced in Japan. ". 'As animals are not used for milk, draught, or food, and there are no pasture lands, both the country and the farm-yards have a singular silence and an inanimate look.'1 She missed the sounds: '...a mean looking dog and a few fowls being the only representatives of domestic animal life. I long for the lowing of cattle and the bleating of sheep.'2 There were also very few horses: 'there is little traffic, and very few horses are kept, one, two, or three constituting the live stock of a large village.'3 Horses were not used for ploughing, nor, even, were they used for carrying. 'Very few horses are kept here. Cows and coolies carry much of the merchandise, and women as well as men carry heavy loads.'4 So rare were domestic animals even in the later nineteenth century, that they were exhibited like exotic species: '...monkey theatres and dog theatres, two mangy sheep and a lean pig attracting wondering crowds, for neither of these animals is known in this region of Japan." http://www.alanmacfarlane.com/savage/A-ANIMAL.PDF http://www.alanmacfarlane.com/savage/A-ANIMAL.PDF