Japan's Agricultural Importance

Last week, I introduced Japan and included an introduction to their agriculture. This post, I've decided to go more in depth with Japan's agriculture. Japan has a history of agricultural boom, but since that time, agriculture has been declining drastically.

The history started in the late 19th century, when agriculture was an important part of Japan. This was because 80 percent of Japan's employment came from agriculture. However, from the late 19th century to post-World War II, Country Studies reports that 80 percent fell down to 50 percent. Now, the agricultural importance has fallen so low that farmers own most of their income from non-farming activities.

Source: R. Dolan & R. Worden (1994). Japan: A Country Study. Retrieved on February 7, 2010 from

Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries plays an administrative role on the agriculture, forestry, and fishing industries. Their duties include: production, consumption, rural development, and promotion. The MAFF is worried about the future of agriculture. This is because the population is no longer engaged in agriculture, because obviously it doesn't pay as well as being a doctor. The MAFF predicts that when the elderly farmers retire, there will be a drastic economic shortage. I expect this to happen with our country too. People are so dedicated to having a better life, wanting to make more money, that they go to school to be doctors and lawyers, just so they can live a comfortable life. We are going to see that there will be an increase of people for these really profitable jobs, where you will see less of farmers. Without food, the country can't survive, so every country needs farmers. So to try to fix this problem, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries wants to promote rice farming, fruit farming, vegetable farming, and livestock farming, because the country needs these to survive.

I think that this problem of decrease in agriculture isn't going to only affect Japan, I think we need to watch this problem with other countries too. Not to meanfully incorporate politics in this blog, but perhaps what President Obama says to the students, to do your best in school, is not exactly the best thing in the world. Our society craves on the weak students, the ones that don't want to be anything more than farmers or burger-flippers. It's how our society stays at peak-efficiency. We all rely on each other, especially farmers. Sure, it's not the ideal profession in the world; however, we need them. Japan needs to fix this problem.

Stay tuned for more posts!
Source: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (2007).