The effect of differing water management schemes on the emission of methane (CH4) from rice paddies to the atmosphere was studied in a Japanese paddy field. Using an automated sampling and analyzing system, the test site was divided into two plots: a continuously flooded plot which was maintained flooded by constant irrigation from May to August, and an intermittently drained plot in which short-term draining practices were performed several times during the flooding period. The draining practice had a strong effect on CH4 emission. A large flush of CH4 emission was observed in the intermittently drained plot immediately after each drainage. It was followed by a rapid decrease in CH4 flux in most of the cases. A large flush of CH4 was observed after the final drainage at the end of August in the continuously flooded plot, accounting for about 7% of the total CH4 emitted in the plot. Total emission rates of CH4 during the cultivation period were 14.8 and 8.63 g m-2 for 1991 and 9.49 and 5.18 g m-2 for 1993 in the continuously flooded and intermittently drained plots, respectively. Companion N2O flux measurements showed that almost no N2O was emitted from either plot until the final drainage. These results indicate that short-term draining practices strongly reduce CH4 emission from rice paddy fields, and that improvement in water management can be one of the most important mitigation strategies for CH4 emission from rice paddy fields. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1996