Eri Otsu: The "Resilience of Farmers" Shown During the Earthquake

2017/06/01

It was 14 years ago that I, who grew up in Tokyo, started farming in Kumamoto. The man I was interested in, who was in the same faculty (Faculty of Environment and Information Studies), was the "heir to a farm" from Kumamoto. We happily married one year after graduation. When we both enrolled in graduate school in Germany, people in his hometown were reportedly grieving, thinking we would "probably never come back."

Having no way of knowing such things, we fully enjoyed our life studying abroad. In Germany, there was a social recognition that "farmers are beings who create not only food, but also rural landscapes and renewable energy." For me, who knew nothing at all about agriculture, that seemed like a bright hope. Shortly after returning to Japan, we started farming. That winter, we immediately established the NPO Kyushu Biomass Forum. We began with study groups on "natural energy," which has high potential specifically in rural and mountainous villages. Later, we worked together on a demonstration experiment for power generation using grass (mainly silver grass from the grasslands) as a resource characteristic of Aso, but we were unable to turn it into a commercial business.

However, the situation changed completely with the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. This was because the importance of natural energy became obvious to everyone. We generated solar power on our roof, and while we usually sold the electricity, we switched to self-consumption during power outages. Neighbors naturally gathered at our house, where we stored electricity during the day and kept the rooms bright at night. With firewood in the yard, seasonal vegetables, and rice that could be stored, I felt the strength of a "place where one can survive." Satoyama Energy Co., Ltd. was established the year before last with close friends from my university days. Our next goal is to actually supply electricity and heat by making good use of rural resources.

A few years before the Kumamoto Earthquake, I became the representative of a national network centered on female farmers. We replaced all officers with active farmers in their 40s or younger and partially changed the name. The restarted "NPO Inaka no Heroines" (Heroines of the Countryside) is developing activities to promote the appeal of farmers and rural villages both domestically and internationally. For example, a fashion show held in a rice field after the harvest. In that project, titled "Wearing the Landscape," we presented the beauty and preciousness of the rural scenery that farmers have protected to society. To preserve such beautiful rural landscapes, the existence of farmers is essential. If Japanese farmers can no longer survive because consumers prioritize low prices... the ones who will truly be in trouble when farmers are gone are probably not the farmers themselves.