In 1937 he was hospitalised with pneumonia, and while recovering, he stated that he had a profound spiritual experience that transformed his world view[9][10][11] and led him to doubt the practices of modern "Western" agricultural science.

From 1938, Fukuoka began to practice and experiment with new techniques on organic citrus orchards and used the observations gained to develop the idea of "Natural Farming".

[12][13] His efforts were interrupted by World War II, during which he worked at the Kōchi Prefecture agricultural experiment station on subjects including farming research and food production.

[11] During his first journey overseas, Fukuoka was accompanied by his wife Ayako, met macrobiotic diet leaders Michio Kushi and Herman Aihara,[14] and was guided by his leading supporter and translation editor Larry Korn.

They sowed seeds in desertified land, visited the University of California in Berkeley and Los Angeles, the Green Gulch Farm Zen Center, the Lundberg Family Farms, and met with United Nations UNCCD representatives including Maurice Strong, who encouraged Fukuoka's practical involvement in the "Plan of Action to Combat Desertification".

In 1985, he spent 40 days in Somalia and Ethiopia, sowing seeds to re-vegetate desert areas, including working in remote villages and a refugee camp.

The next year saw him participate in official meetings in Japan associated with the Earth Summit in Rio, Brazil, and in 1996 he returned to Africa, sowing seeds in desert areas of Tanzania, observing baobab trees and jungle country.

He travelled to the Philippines in 1998, carrying out Natural Farming research, and visited Greece later that year to assist plans to re-vegetate 10,000 hectares (40 sq.

In 2005, he gave a brief lecture at the World Expo in Aichi Prefecture, Japan,[15] and in May 2006 he appeared in an hour-long interview on Japanese television network NHK.

[17] Fukuoka called his agricultural philosophy shizen nōhō (自然農法), most commonly translated into English as "natural farming".

Fukuoka saw farming not just as a means of producing food but as an aesthetic and spiritual approach to life,[19][page needed] the ultimate goal of which was "the cultivation and perfection of human beings".

[3]: (1) The One-Straw Revolution has been translated into over 20 languages and sold more than one million copies[3] and Fukuoka has been widely influential, inspiring an international movement of individuals discovering and applying his principles to varying degrees,[3] such as Akinori Kimura,[29] David Mas Masumoto[30] and Yoshikazu Kawaguchi,[31] and has significantly influenced alternative movements in the West, such as permaculture.

[36] More recently however, the FAO (along with multiple research universities and organizations such as the Union of Concerned Scientists) have found conventional industrial agriculture systems to be rooted in unsustainable practices that ignore basic biology and the needs of ecosystems.

[37] Many of Fukuoka's principles are now being incorporated into modern forms of farming that are more biodiverse, less reliant on chemicals and machines, and which produce similar yields while increasing the health of the soil and surrounding environment.

[39][40] In Japan, where Fukuoka had few followers or associates,[8] his critics argue that the "inner world and the connection between humans and nature does not, however, exhaust reality" and that he did not give sufficient attention to interpersonal relationships or society.