"It's Okay for the Number of Farmers to Decrease Further: The 'Common Sense' of Agriculture is Full of Lies"

November 14, 2022

I am a new farmer who turned to agriculture after graduating from the Faculty of Economics in 1994 and working in sales for a synthetic fiber manufacturer. My family was not a farming family, and I started my farm from scratch.

The beginning of the Heisei era, when I was a student, was a period when Japan's trade surplus was expanding and the Japanese agricultural market was under strong pressure to open up. In university lectures and seminars, the theme of how to view agricultural protectionism was frequently discussed.

However, since then, Japan's agricultural policy has not undergone a major shift, and overprotected agriculture has truly weakened. Agriculture, labeled as "the weak," is treated like a sore spot. It has reached a state where people hesitate to discuss it openly as they do with other industries.

I often talk to students and young professionals who are interested in agriculture, and for them, farmers are subjects to be helped. An overwhelming number of people believe that supporting agriculture is unconditionally social and good, regardless of who the target is.

In reality, modern agriculture is undergoing consolidation and expansion of scale. While the number of small-scale farmers with sales of less than 5 million yen is plummeting, the cluster with sales of 30 million yen or more is increasing every year. This top tier, which accounts for only 4 percent in terms of numbers, earns more than 50% of the total agricultural output. Within the value chain that runs through the entire food industry, agriculture has become an industry and farmers have become businesspeople. Traditional small-scale farmers and the general public, who only view agriculture from an old perspective, are unaware of this and still say things like "It's terrible that the number of farmers is decreasing" or "Poor farmers who can't make a profit," but that image is far removed from reality.

In my book, "It's Okay for the Number of Farmers to Decrease Further: The 'Common Sense' of Agriculture is Full of Lies," published in August, I introduce in detail the current state of agriculture, including the reality of industrialization and large-scale farming, the reasons why consolidation has not progressed until now, and the reality of new entrants. Within it, I discuss how small business entities and agriculture in disadvantaged areas should be, from the perspective of an active agricultural manager. I hope you will read it and update your view of agriculture.

"It's Okay for the Number of Farmers to Decrease Further: The 'Common Sense' of Agriculture is Full of Lies"

Tatsuo Hisamatsu

Kobunsha Shinsho

384 pages, 1,144 yen (tax included)

*Affiliations and job titles are as of the time of publication.