Why Arent Young Japanese Farming An Investigation Into

Why Aren’t Young Japanese Farming? An Investigation Into Why Farming In Japan Has Become A Dying Trade Christopher Maierhofer Maierhcn@uwec. edu University of Wisconsin Eau Claire Faculty Advisor Tomomi Kakegawa Department Of Foreign Languages Introduction: The typical farm in Japan is “woefully inefficient and small ” 1. Just as disconcerting is the fact that over 60% of farmers are over the age of 652. Together, this presents a substantial problem for the future of Japan’s agriculture. This project set out to understand the reasons Japanese farming has reached its current state, by interviewing farmers in Japan, in Japanese. How To Revive Farming? While in the field: • I worked for a former architect who gave up his high-paying job to become an organic farmer. • Joined students to assist an elderly farmer plant his rice paddies. • Interviewed farmers, laypeople, and a biologist working to connect young people with the land farming. Post WW 2 Land Reform 3 Misguided Investment • From 1946 -47, the Japanese government bought and resold large landlord-owned farms as small parcels to former tenant farmers. This led to: “They built this huge, expensive composting facility without consulting the farmers, and it’s just sat here ever since. This is just one of many examples of the government’s failed attempts to help Japanese farmers. ” Biologist Teruo Miyagawa. v 40% of farmers without enough farmland to subsist on farming alone. v Many full-time farmers giving up entirely and leaving to work in factories. v The children of deprived farmers, seeing their parents struggle, also gave up on the profession to work elsewhere. v. In order to increase profitability, “farmers need to take control from production to packaging to sales. ” 6 v. The Japanese government needs to foster development of an agricultural economy no longer dependent on subsidies. 7 v. The Japanese Agricultural Cooperative, JA, handles distribution for a large percentage of farmers, but many are dissatisfied with their return on investment. 8 v Organic farming presents a way to circumvent the issues presented by traditional, subsidized farming. 9 v. This method has worked substantially for Japanese farmers through developing direct grower-buyer relationships. 10 “Most of these farmers have been through it all. The cooperative, JA, tells them to grow oranges, so they grow oranges. Then the government liberalizes trade. They tell them to raise cows, so they take out loans to build the facilities, buy livestock, and what happens? It’s unsuccessful! How does a farmer, who doesn’t make any money anyway, pay off his loans selling a product no one wants? It’s like this all over. ” Teruo Miyagawa. Gentan or the “Set Aside • Make farming economically appealing Importance of Local Farms “As the price of crude oil continues to escalate, the benefits of organic, local farming will become much more clear. Japanese farming practices are easily adaptable to a world without cheap, plentiful oil. ” Farmer Masahiro Gotou, on contemporary agriculture in the face of peak oil. 4 Policy” • In 1971, the Japanese government enacted the “Gentan” policy, with the purpose of preventing a rice surplus. This had several negative side effects: v Each year, rice farmers had to set aside a percentage, up to 25%, of their rice production. These paddies quickly turned fallow and became useless for rice. v If land wasn’t set aside, the government refused to buy 25% of the rice the first year, 50% the second year, and 75% the third year. v The government offers subsidies for set-aside land. Arable land was incrementally lost, and farmers became dependent on subsidies. v. Today, “Japanese farmers typically derive 50 percent of their revenue from subsidies, price supports and restrictions on imports, costing Japanese taxpayers as much as $45 billion dollars annually. ” 5 Future Impact Back To The Land “I’m trying to connect students with farmers for two reasons: One is to get young people excited about working the land. The other is to help the farmers stay afloat. This guy [the farmer we were helping plant rice] would never be able to plant the fields himself. He’s 70, lives with his mother, and has a broken arm. ” Miyagawa Teruo. This project was made possible thanks to generous support from the University of Wisconsin, Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP). “I stopped what I was doing, looked at what I was helping to create [as an architect], and it hit me; I don’t want my children to inherit a world of skyscrapers with no reverence for nature. Then I started thinking about what kind of life I did want to lead, and organic farming fit perfectly, ” Masahiro Gotou. References: 1 -Tabuchi, Hiroko. “For Young Japanese, It’s Back to the Farm”, The New York Times. April 15 -2009. http: //www. nytimes. com/2009/04/16/business/global/16 farmer. html 2 -The Census of Agriculture and Forestry and Survey on Movement of Agricultural Structure, Statistics Department, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries 3, 4 -Moen, Darrell Gene. "The Postwar Japanese Agricultural Debacle” , Hitotsubashi Journal of Social Studies: Vol. 31. No. 1. July 1999 5 -9 - Biggs, Stuart, and Sachiko Sakamaki. "Porn Maker Turned Farmer Joins Move to End Japan Co-Op’s Grip. " Bloomberg. com. 28/10/2009 10 - Moen, Darrell Gene. "The Postwar Japanese Agricultural Debacle” , Hitotsubashi Journal of Social Studies: Vol. 31. No. 1. July 1999