Japan's Average Farmer Is 67.7 Years Old. Here's What Happens When a Whole Country's Farmers Retire at Once
High in the mountains of Tokushima, on the island of Shikoku, a woman named Tsukimi Ayano planted seeds in her field and needed something to keep the birds off them. So she built a scarecrow, dressed it in her father's clothes and stood it in the field.
That was the first of hundreds. When NPR reported on her village, Nagoro, in 2016, about 30 people lived there, down from about 300 at one time. The school had closed. Her scarecrows filled its classrooms.
Nagoro is one tiny village. But the numbers behind it now cover a whole country. The average age of farmers in Japan is 67.7. That is the average age of the country's 1,036,000 core farmers in the 2025 Census of Agriculture and Forestry. Almost seven in ten are 65 or older. In five years, Japan lost nearly one core farmer in four.
This is what happens when a nation's farmers reach retirement together and nobody is behind them. And it is a warning for every farm in the US, Canada and the UK where the owner is getting older and the next generation has other plans.
The short answer
|
What Japan's Farm Census Really Says
Japan counts its farmers in a full census every five years. The 2025 census counted everyone as of 1 February 2025.
MAFF's headline group is the "core farmer" (基幹的農業従事者, kikanteki nōgyō jūjisha). These are people whose main everyday work is farming their own family's farm. They are the backbone of Japan's family farms.
Here is how that group has changed.
Year | Core farmers | Average age | Source |
2000 | 2.40 million | 62.2 | MAFF census |
2005 | 2.241 million | 64.2 | MAFF census |
2010 | about 2.05 million | 66.2 | MAFF census |
2015 | 1.757 million | 67.1 | MAFF census |
2020 | 1.363 million | 67.8 | MAFF census |
2025 | 1.036 million | 67.7 | MAFF census (final) |
2026 | 987,000 (estimate) | 67.7 | MAFF sample survey |
Look at the 2025 average age. It went down, from 67.8 to 67.7.
That sounds like good news. It is not.
The average held steady because so many of the oldest farmers left. The number of core farmers aged 80 and over fell from 236,000 in 2020 to 167,000 in 2025. The number aged 70 to 79 fell from 460,000 to 405,000.
The young did not take their place. Core farmers under 50 fell from about 147,000 to about 130,000. Their share rose to 12.6% only because the total shrank so fast.
A note on the numbers you may see online. MAFF's yearly sample survey put the average age at 69.2 in 2024. The full 2025 census then counted 67.7. The two use different methods, and MAFF cautions that the two should be compared with care. The preliminary census release in November 2025 showed about 1.02 million farmers at 67.6. The final count, published in March 2026, is 1.036 million at 67.7. This article uses the final census.
What Happens When a Whole Country's Farmers Retire at Once
Japan is running the experiment the rest of the farming world is heading toward. Here is what the results look like so far.
No. 1: The fields go back to the wild
Japan had about 6.09 million hectares of farmland at its peak in 1961. By 2026 it had 4.21 million. That is roughly 31% gone.
The loss has not slowed. From 2017 to 2026, Japan's farmland shrank every single year, by about 234,000 hectares in total. That is about 578,000 acres, or roughly 900 square miles.
MAFF says fields left to go wild or converted to other uses outran the land brought back into farming. In 2025 alone, farmland fell by 33,000 hectares.
Then there is land that still counts as farmland on paper but has gone wild. MAFF's survey of "derelict farmland" (荒廃農地, kōhai nōchi) found 257,000 hectares as of March 2025. Of that, 159,000 hectares are judged unlikely to ever be farmed again.
No. 2: Nobody wants the land, so it gets cheaper
You might expect farmland to get scarce and expensive as farmers retire. In rural Japan, the opposite happened.
The Japan Real Estate Institute's 2025 survey found paddy field prices have fallen for 33 years in a row, since 1993. Upland field prices have fallen for 34 years. Paddy land now sells for 53.8% of its 1992 peak.
When the buyers are gone, the land is not an asset to sell. It is a responsibility to hand over.
No. 3: Most farms have no one to hand it to
In the 2020 census, more than 70% of farm businesses said they had not secured a successor. Only about one in four had one, according to MAFF's research institute.
By 2025, Japan's towns and villages had drawn up "regional plans" showing who would farm each field in the future. Those plans cover 4.22 million hectares. On about 30% of that land, no future farmer has been named.
No. 4: The villages empty out
Japan's government surveys its rural settlements every few years. The latest survey, released in August 2025, covered 78,485 settlements in remote and disadvantaged areas as of April 2024.
In 40.2% of them, more than half the residents are 65 or older. Five years earlier, it was 29.2%.
296 settlements had become uninhabited since the last survey.
Local governments expect 0.6% to empty within 10 years and 4.2% to empty at some point.
Japanese writers have a name for a community at this edge: genkai shūraku, a "limit village." In its 2014 story on Nagoro, Nippon.com noted that Japan already had more than 10,000 such communities.
No. 5: Fewer, bigger farms, and more companies
The farms that remain are getting bigger. Japan had 836,000 farm businesses in 2025, down 22.3% in five years. The average farm business now works 3.6 hectares, up from 3.1 hectares in 2020.
Companies are moving in. Corporate farm businesses rose 10.1% to 34,000, and company-run farms rose 23.0%. Group farm businesses, most of them corporations, now manage 28.3% of Japan's farmed area.
Bigger farms keep some fields in production. They do not keep a village alive on their own. A large farm with a few machines and a few workers does not refill a school.
No. 6: The food system has less slack
In 2025, rice prices in Japan roughly doubled from a year earlier, and the government released its emergency rice stockpile. Reuters traced the shock to a heat-damaged 2023 crop, panic buying after an earthquake warning, tourist demand, hoarding and decades of production cuts. It did not blame farmer ageing.
But a country with fewer farmers every year may have less room to absorb a bad season. That is the worry behind an ageing farm workforce.
Why This Is Not Only Japan
It is easy to read this as a Japanese story. It is not. Japan is simply further down the same road.
Country | Who is counted | Average age | Older farmers | Younger farmers | Year |
Japan | Core farmers | 67.7 | 69.6% aged 65+ | 12.6% under 50 | 2025 |
United States | All producers | 58.1 | 38% aged 65+ | 9% under 35 | 2022 |
Canada | Farm operators | 56.0 | 60.5% aged 55+ | 8.6% "young operators" | 2021 |
England | Principal farmers and holders | Not published | 36.1% aged 65+ | 6.8% under 35 | 2026 |
European Union | Farm managers | Not published | 61.0% aged 55+ | 10.7% under 40 | 2023 |
Each country counts differently, so do not compare the decimals. Compare the direction.
In the US, the number of producers aged 65 and over grew 12.1% between 2017 and 2022, to 1.29 million. In Canada, only 12.0% of farms reported a succession plan in 2021. In England, more than one in three principal farmers and holders is 65 or older.
If you farm in any of these places, Japan is a preview. We covered what that looks like on your own kitchen table in our farm succession plan guide and in the 7 questions to ask your kids about taking over.
What Japan Is Trying
Japan has not sat still. Here is what it is doing, what the numbers say, and where farm stays fit in.
Paying new farmers to start
MAFF's new farmer program pays up to ¥1.5 million a year to people aged 49 or under: for up to two years while they train, and for up to three years after they start farming on their own. A separate grant can cover up to ¥5 million of national money for equipment and setup.
It helps. But it has not turned the tide. Japan counted 43,460 new farmers in 2023, down 5.2% from the year before. Only 15,890 of them were 49 or younger.
A farmland bank to match land with farmers
In 2014, Japan created prefecture-level "farmland banks" that take in land from owners who can no longer farm it and lease it to working farms. By FY2025, 62.1% of Japan's farmland was farmed by designated core operators. MAFF says about 259,000 hectares were consolidated through the banks in FY2025, around six in ten hectares of newly consolidated land.
Welcoming outsiders to live and work in villages
Japan's Community Revitalization Cooperators program brings outsiders to live in rural towns and do paid local work for a set term. In 2024, 7,910 people took part. Of those who finished their terms in the last five years, 69% stayed in the same area or a neighbouring town.
Farm stays: the nōhaku program
Then there is nōhaku (農泊), often translated as "farm stay" or "countryside stay." It means staying in a farmhouse, a fishing village guesthouse or a restored old home, eating local food and joining in local life.
MAFF backs regions that organise to welcome guests. The number of nōhaku regions grew from 206 in FY2017 to 673 in FY2024.
Guests are coming. Nōhaku regions recorded 8.68 million guest nights in FY2024, up from 5.89 million before the pandemic. Overseas guests nearly doubled in one year, to 748,000 nights. MAFF's target is 12 million guest nights by FY2029.
Now the honest part. MAFF found that guests in nōhaku regions spent an average of ¥13,196 per night in FY2024, compared with ¥18,940 for Japanese tourism overall. Farm-stay guests still spend about 30% less per night than tourists overall. MAFF calls raising that value a challenge. Keep that in mind when you price your own.
The Villages That Found a Way Back
Here are real places in Japan that used visitors, not just crops, to keep land and people alive. Every number below comes from a government or major source listed at the end.
Ajimu, Ōita: the farmhouses that started it
In 1996, farm families in Ajimu, a mountain town in Ōita Prefecture, began hosting guests in their own homes as a way to revive ageing farm communities. MAFF calls Ajimu the birthplace of farm stays in Japan.
They did not build hotels. Families used spare rooms and served the meals they already cooked. A MAFF story from around 2020 reported that about 50 homes in and around Ajimu offered stays, that the local society welcomed about 9,500 guests in the previous year, and that the price was ¥7,800 a night with two meals.
Tsubasa Abe, a local green tourism staff member, told MAFF that the hosts say meeting guests gives them "a purpose in life."
Shūraku Maruyama, Hyōgo: the hamlet that filled its empty houses
Maruyama, in the Sasayama area of Hyōgo Prefecture, was a hamlet of 12 houses. Seven stood empty. Five households and 19 people remained.
In 2009, three of the empty farmhouses were restored and opened as guest lodging. According to Japan's land ministry, the lodging business was profitable from its first year and passed 5,000 cumulative guests. By 2015, the hamlet had 23 residents instead of 19. Farmed land doubled from 2.1 to 4.2 hectares, and its 2.1 hectares of abandoned farmland went back into use.
Small numbers. But for a hamlet that was close to the end, every one of those people and hectares mattered.
Maruyama Senmaida, Mie: rice terraces that strangers help keep
The Maruyama Senmaida terraces in Kumano, Mie Prefecture, had shrunk to 530 paddies by 1992. In 1993, all the residents formed a preservation society. With the city's help, they restored 810 paddies over about four years, bringing the total back to 1,340.
In 1996 they started an "owner" system: outsiders pay a yearly fee to become the "owner" of a paddy. The Government of Japan's own magazine reported in 2018 that more than 100 groups applied every year.
Daiki, Mie: a whole town as one farm stay
MAFF's FY2025 White Paper features Daiki town in Mie Prefecture. By 2024, its local council coordinated more than 25 places to stay, including farm guesthouses and campgrounds, hosting over 3,000 guests a year with more than 70 activities, from cave tours to small-scale net fishing. Schools and groups book through one window.
No single farm could offer 70 activities. A town working together can.
Kamikatsu, Tokushima: work that fits older hands
Not every way back involves overnight guests. In 1981, a severe cold snap killed Kamikatsu's mandarin trees, its main crop. Heavy replacement work did not suit the town's elderly farmers.
In 1987, four women began selling leaves and flowers as garnishes for Japanese restaurants. Nippon.com reports that the Irodori leaf business works with 145 growers, mostly women over 70, with annual sales of up to ¥260 million. Its staff, aged in their twenties to forties, moved to Kamikatsu for the work.
Place | What they sold | Real result reported |
Ajimu, Ōita | Farmhouse stays with home meals | About 50 host homes; about 9,500 guests a year (MAFF, c. 2020) |
Shūraku Maruyama, Hyōgo | Restored farmhouses as lodging | Profitable from year one; residents 19 to 23; abandoned farmland 2.1 ha to 0 (MLIT) |
Maruyama Senmaida, Mie | Paddy "ownership" for outsiders (yearly fee) | Terraces 530 back to 1,340; 100+ groups apply a year (Govt of Japan, 2018) |
Daiki, Mie | Town-wide stays and activities | 25+ lodgings; 3,000+ guests a year; 70+ activities (MAFF, 2024) |
Kamikatsu, Tokushima | Leaves for restaurant garnish | 145 growers; sales up to ¥260 million a year (Nippon.com) |
If you want to see Japanese farms that welcome visitors today, our ranking of the 50 best farms to visit in Japan is a good place to start. And this Japanese farm's "Harvest Your Dinner" stay package shows the kind of offer guests come back for.
What This Means for Your Farm
You are not a Japanese village. But if you are over 60, or your children have careers in town, or your hired help is hard to find, you face the same question Ajimu and Maruyama faced.
Who will keep this land alive, and what will pay for it?
Here are the moves Japan's examples point to.
Step 1: Face the numbers on your own farm
Before you plan anything, write down three things. How many working years you and your partner honestly have left. Who, by name, could take over. And how much of your farm income depends on your own back.
If the second answer is blank, you are where 70% of Japan's farms were in 2020. That is not a failure. It is a starting point.
Reality Check: Japan paid new farmers up to ¥1.5 million a year and still saw new entries fall. Money alone does not create a successor. People take over farms that look like a good life and a decent living. Your job is to make yours look like both. |
Step 2: Sell the place, not just the crop
Ajimu's families did not sell more rice. They sold a night in a farmhouse, a home-cooked meal and a conversation. Kamikatsu's growers did not sell more mandarins. They sold beauty to restaurants.
A visitor pays for what only your farm has: the view, the story, the skills and the people. That income does not depend on a commodity price, and much of it does not need young muscles. We showed how older farmers do this in Too Old to Lift Hay Bales, Too Young to Quit and why your grey hair is a selling point.
Field-Tested Play: Start with what Ajimu started with, rather than a building project. Ajimu's hosts used spare rooms and everyday meals. On your farm, that might be one guest room, one farm breakfast and one hour of chores with the farmer. Test demand before you spend. Our guide on how to start a farm stay walks through setup costs, nightly rates and the permit questions to ask first. |
Step 3: Let outsiders adopt a piece of the farm
Maruyama Senmaida's few residents could not keep 1,340 paddies alone. So they invited outsiders to become paying "owners" of a paddy.
That idea travels. An adopt-a-tree, adopt-a-row or adopt-a-hive scheme turns a field you cannot fully manage into a yearly relationship with families who pay in advance, visit on set days and help at busy times.
Field-Tested Play: Pick one block of the farm you struggle to keep up. Offer it as a yearly "adoption" with two or three set visit days (planting, a summer visit, harvest), a share of the produce and the family's name on a sign. Cap the numbers so you are never overwhelmed. Check with your insurer before the first visit day. |
Step 4: Hire a young host before you look for a successor
Here is the pattern in Japan's best examples. Young people did not come back to farm first. They came for a job: Irodori's staff, or the Community Revitalization Cooperators. In that last program, 69% of those who finished their terms stayed on in the area.
A visitor business creates jobs that fit young people: guiding, cooking, bookings, social media, events. Once they are on your land every week, some of them fall in love with it. That is how many farms find a successor who is not family. Our stories of 10 young farmers who proved farming is not dying show what draws them in.
Reality Check: A young employee is not a successor. Taking over a farm usually means money, land rights and trust built over years. Talk early with a lawyer about options such as leasing, gradual sale or a shared business. If you have heirs who do not farm, read how to split the farm between the child who farms and the ones who don't. |
Step 5: Team up with your neighbours
Daiki town offers more than 70 activities because many households work as one. Visitors book through one window. No single host has to do everything.
You can do the same with two or three nearby farms: one does stays, one does a farm meal, one does a tour or a class. Share the marketing and pass guests along. For a country that turned farm stays into a national business, read what Italy knows about the farm stay business.
Step 6: Price it like it is worth something
MAFF's own figures show Japanese farm-stay guests spending about 30% less per night than tourists overall. Japan is now working to raise that value.
Do not repeat that mistake on your farm. A night in a real working farmhouse with a farmer who knows the land is rare. Price it that way. One Japanese town's experience with a new lodging tax on farm-stay beds is also a reminder to build taxes and fees into your price from day one.
Reality Check: Visitors do not save every village. Nagoro drew visitors from Japan and abroad to see its scarecrows, yet reporters counted about 40 residents in 2014 and about 30 in 2016. Attention is not income. Income comes when visitors can stay, eat, buy and come back, and when someone is there to host them. If you cannot host, find a partner who can, or choose a lighter idea such as direct sales or an adoption scheme. |
For a wider menu of options that do not depend on more yield, see the top 7 ways English farms now earn money off the field. And for a story of older food producers who turned their own life stories into a paid show, read the Haenyeo's Kitchen case study.
Paperwork, Permits and Insurance: Questions to Ask Before Guests Arrive
Japan's farm stays work inside Japanese rules. Yours will work inside your country's, your state's or province's, and your county's or council's. This is not legal advice. These are the questions to take to your local planning office, your insurer, your accountant and a lawyer.
Zoning and planning
Is short-term lodging allowed on my farmland, or do I need a permit, a change of use or a special exception?
Do my county, township or council rules treat a farm stay as agriculture, tourism or a business?
Are there limits on guest numbers, events, parking or signs?
Lodging and food
Does a guest room count as a bed and breakfast, a guest house or a short-term rental here, and what licence does each need?
Can I serve guests a home-cooked meal from my own kitchen, or do I need a licensed kitchen or food permit?
What fire, smoke alarm and exit rules apply to guest rooms?
Insurance
Does my farm policy cover paying guests, or does it exclude them?
Do I need a separate commercial liability policy for lodging, tours or activities?
Are animal contact, farm machinery rides and children's activities covered, and are there exclusions?
Start with what agritourism insurance covers and costs.
Liability
Does my state or province have an agritourism liability law, and what signs or registration does it require?
Will a waiver help me here, and who should write it?
Land, tax and succession
If I lease land to a younger farmer or let a partner run a visitor business on it, how does that affect my property tax, farm status or inheritance plans?
Does adding a visitor business change my farm's tax treatment or any agricultural relief I receive?
If I want to hand over gradually, what lease, partnership or company structures are available, and what are the tax effects of each?
How Bloopy Durians Earns From Visitors, Not Just From Fruit
I am Stephen Loke, founder of Bloopy Durians, a durian farm in Bentong, Malaysia.
Our farm welcomes visitors from all over the world, including Japan. Japan's Asahi Shimbun, one of Japan's largest newspapers, came to the farm and featured it. So did Bloomberg News.
What brings them is not just the fruit. It is a farm tour of about 1.5 hours. Guests plant a durian tree, ride a four-wheel-drive, tour the trees, taste durians at the farmhouse and open one with their own hands. They also pluck fruit such as mangosteen and rambutan from the trees.
The fruit is only part of it. The visit is what turns a fruit sale into an experience people travel for, tell friends about and come back to. That is the same lesson Ajimu learned in 1996.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average age of farmers in Japan?
The average age of Japan's core farmers was 67.7 in the 2025 Census of Agriculture and Forestry, based on a count taken on 1 February 2025 and published in final form by MAFF in March 2026. MAFF's 2026 sample survey also estimated 67.7. About 69.6% of core farmers are 65 or older.
Why are Japanese farmers getting older?
Too few young people are coming in behind them. More than 70% of farm businesses had not secured a successor in the 2020 census. Core farmers under 50 fell from about 147,000 in 2020 to about 130,000 in 2025, and new farmer numbers fell 5.2% in 2023. So the farmers who remain keep getting older until they retire.
How many farmers does Japan have now?
Japan had 1.036 million core farmers in the 2025 census, down 24.0% from 1.363 million in 2020 and less than half the 2.4 million of 2000. MAFF's 2026 sample survey estimated about 987,000.
How much farmland is abandoned in Japan?
MAFF counted 257,000 hectares of derelict farmland as of March 2025, of which 159,000 hectares are unlikely to be farmed again. Japan's total farmland has fallen from about 6.09 million hectares in 1961 to 4.21 million hectares in 2026.
What is a farm stay (nōhaku) in Japan?
Nōhaku (農泊) means staying in a farmhouse, fishing village guesthouse or restored old home, eating local food and joining in local life. MAFF supports regions that organise these stays. There were 673 nōhaku regions in FY2024, with 8.68 million guest nights.
Can farm stays save rural villages?
They can help, but they are not a cure. In Shūraku Maruyama, restoring three empty farmhouses as lodging helped the hamlet grow from 19 to 23 residents and bring all its abandoned farmland back into use. But Japanese farm-stay guests still spend less per night than tourists overall, and stays need hosts. Visitors work best alongside other steps, such as land leasing and new farmer support.
What should I do if I have no successor for my farm?
Start with an honest plan: how many working years you have, who could take over, and how much income depends on your own labour. Then look at income that does not depend on muscle, such as farm stays, tours, classes or adoption schemes, and bring younger people onto the farm through jobs. Get legal and tax advice on leasing, partnerships or a gradual handover.
Is the farmer ageing problem only in Japan?
No. The average US producer was 58.1 in 2022, with 38% aged 65 or over. Canada's farm operators averaged 56.0 in 2021. In England, 36.1% of principal farmers and holders were 65 or older in 2026. Japan is further along the same road.
The Lesson From a Country That Got There First
Japan did not choose to become the world's test case. Its farmers simply got there first.
The census numbers show what happens when no plan is made: the land goes wild, the price falls and the village empties. The villages that turned it around did one thing in common. They gave people a reason to come, then a reason to stay.
Not sure where your own farm stands? The free Farm Readiness Quiz takes a few minutes and shows you whether your farm is ready for paying visitors, what you already have that guests will pay for, and which gaps to fix first, so you do not spend money on the wrong thing.
Want more ideas you can start this season? My free ebook, "150 Ways to Unlock Hidden Wealth From Your Farm," gives you 150 ways farm owners earn from what they already have: land, buildings, skills, stories and views. Many of them need little money and no young muscles. Pick the two or three that fit your farm and your stage of life.
P.S. Tsukimi Ayano built her first scarecrow to protect her seeds, and in time visitors came from as far as Poland to see her work. Nagoro shows that people will come to see a farm with a story. The villages that came back went one step further and gave those visitors a bed, a meal and a reason to return. Your farm has a story too. The question is whether anyone will be there to tell it.
Sources
Census of Agriculture and Forestry 2025, summary of results (final figures, management entity survey), Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), 2026. https://www.e-stat.go.jp/stat-search/files/data?sinfid=000040483733&ext=pdf
2025 Census of Agriculture and Forestry report page, MAFF, 2026. https://www.maff.go.jp/j/tokei/census/afc/2025/080807.html
2025 Census of Agriculture and Forestry preliminary results (press release), MAFF, 28 November 2025. https://www.maff.go.jp/j/press/tokei/census/251128.html
Agricultural statistics indicators: core farmers, MAFF, 2026. https://www.maff.go.jp/j/tokei/sihyo/data/08.html
Agricultural statistics indicators: cultivated land area, MAFF, 2026. https://www.maff.go.jp/j/tokei/sihyo/data/10.html
FY2025 White Paper on Food, Agriculture and Rural Areas, Part 1 Chapter 2 (agricultural workforce), MAFF, 2026. https://www.maff.go.jp/j/wpaper/w_maff/r7/pdf/1-2-02.pdf
FY2025 White Paper on Food, Agriculture and Rural Areas, Part 1 Chapter 1 (regional plans), MAFF, 2026. https://www.maff.go.jp/j/wpaper/w_maff/r7/r7_h/trend/part1/chap1/c1_1_00.html
FY2025 White Paper on Food, Agriculture and Rural Areas, Part 1 Chapter 6 (nōhaku, rural communities), MAFF, 2026. https://www.maff.go.jp/j/wpaper/w_maff/r7/pdf/1-6-02.pdf
FY2024 White Paper on Food, Agriculture and Rural Areas (core farmers 2024), MAFF, 2025. https://www.maff.go.jp/j/wpaper/w_maff/r6/pdf/1-2-03.pdf
FY2020 White Paper on Food, Agriculture and Rural Areas, core farmers 2005-2020, MAFF, 2021. https://www.maff.go.jp/j/wpaper/w_maff/r3/r3_h/trend/part1/chap1/c1_1_01.html
Cultivated land area 2025 (results summary), MAFF, 28 October 2025. https://www.maff.go.jp/j/tokei/kekka_gaiyou/sakumotu/menseki/r7/kouti.html
Current state of and measures against derelict farmland, MAFF, February 2026. https://www.maff.go.jp/j/nousin/tikei/houkiti/attach/pdf/index-51.pdf
Japan's farmland: 4.27 million hectares, down 30% in 50 years, Nippon.com (citing MAFF). https://www.nippon.com/ja/japan-data/h02580/
Core farmers fall to 986,600 (2026 survey), Nippon.com (citing MAFF). https://www.nippon.com/ja/japan-data/h02834/
Farmland and Forest Price Survey (as of end of March 2025), Japan Real Estate Institute, 30 October 2025. https://www.reinet.or.jp/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/farmland-and-forest-survey_20251.pdf
7 in 10 farm businesses have no successor (2020 census analysis), Policy Research Institute, MAFF (PRIMAFF), 2022. https://www.maff.go.jp/primaff/seika/pickup/2022/22_07.html
Survey on settlements in depopulated and other areas, results announcement, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) and Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, 8 August 2025. https://www.mlit.go.jp/report/press/kokudoseisaku03_hh_000263.html
Farmland consolidation to core operators FY2025, MAFF press release, 16 June 2026. https://www.maff.go.jp/j/press/keiei/seisaku/260616.html
New farmer support program guide FY2025, MAFF Kyushu Regional Agricultural Administration Office, 2025. https://www.maff.go.jp/kyusyu/seiryuu/keiei/syuunou/attach/pdf/syuunou-24.pdf
Current state of nōhaku (farm stay), MAFF, 2025. https://www.maff.go.jp/j/nousin/kouryu/nouhakusuishin/pdf/nouhaku_genjo.pdf
Explainer: What's behind the surge in Japan's rice prices?, Reuters (via Interaksyon), 18 June 2025. https://interaksyon.philstar.com/politics-issues/2025/06/18/297938/explainer-whats-behind-the-surge-in-japans-rice-prices/
A Dying Japanese Village Brought Back to Life by Scarecrows, NPR, 26 August 2016. https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2016/08/26/490687505/a-dying-japanese-village-brought-back-to-life-by-scarecrows
Scarecrows Stand Watch over Village on Borrowed Time, Nippon.com, 11 September 2014. https://www.nippon.com/en/articles/-/15668
The Benefits of Green Tourism in a Tiny Farming Community (Ajimu), MAFF on Google Arts & Culture, c. 2020. https://artsandculture.google.com/story/the-benefits-of-green-tourism-in-a-tiny-farming-community-ministry-of-agriculture-forestry-and-fisheries/DwVBwRgLeZZdLg?hl=en
New uses of vacant land and houses (Shūraku Maruyama case), MLIT presentation material. https://www.mlit.go.jp/common/001205467.pdf
Maruyama Senmaida rice terraces, Highlighting Japan, Government of Japan, May 2018. https://www.gov-online.go.jp/eng/publicity/book/hlj/html/201805/201805_08_jp.html
Leaf Business Breathes Life into Rural Community, Nippon.com. https://nippon.com/en/guide-to-japan/gu900259
2022 Census of Agriculture Highlights: Farm Producers, USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, February 2024. https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/Highlights/2024/Census22_HL_FarmProducers_FINAL.pdf
Canada's 2021 Census of Agriculture: A story about the transformation of the agriculture industry and adaptiveness of Canadian farmers, Statistics Canada, 11 May 2022. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/daily-quotidien/220511/dq220511a-eng.htm
Agricultural workforce in England at 1 June 2026, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), 24 September 2026. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/agricultural-workforce-in-england-at-1-june/agricultural-workforce-in-england-at-1-june-2026
Farmers and the agricultural labour force - statistics, Eurostat, May 2026. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php/Farmers_and_the_agricultural_labour_force_-_statistics
Photos: Andy Arbeit, Nichika Sakurai and Yuika Takamura on Unsplash (Unsplash License). https://unsplash.com
Stephen Loke of AgritourismSuccess.com, whose farm is featured in Bloomberg News and Asahi Shimbun. This article is general information, not legal, tax, insurance or financial advice. Check rules with your local authorities and advisers.
Comments