Freshwater fish in rice fields near the Chikuma River, Nagano Prefecture, were investigated by visual census and net sampling. The rice fields were classified into three types. Type 1-terraced and supplied with water from an upper pond; type 2-supplied with water from drainage ditches; and type 3-supplied and drained by separate irrigation ditches. Rhinogobius sp.OR (sensu Kawanabe and Mizuno, 1989), Misgurnus anguillicaudatus and Pseudorasbora parva were abundant in type 1 fields, whereas Tribolodon hakonensis, Carassius spp., M. anguillicaudatus and Gnathopogon elongatus elongatus were recorded in type 2 fields. Only M. anguillicaudatus was found in type 3 fields. The fish abundance and diversity did not differ significantly between type 1 and 2, but was extremely poor in type 3. The recent rearrangement of rice fields from types 1 and 2 to type 3 evidently reduced fish abundance and diversity.