Rice Paddy Relaxation

[2triky]

Japanese urbanites plant rice to destress

Reuters | 05/22/2009 9:28 PM

SANBU, JAPAN - Farming just got fashionable in Japan, where scores of stressed-out urbanites are spending their weekends trudging through mud to painstakingly plant rice by hand and, hopefully, find themselves.

Growing concerns over food safety and the environment, and the ideal of a laid-back rural lifestyle, are attracting more urbanites to agriculture, once the mainstay of Japan's economy.

Popular for years among retirees, part-time agriculture courses are now drawing younger professionals seeking a break from the rat-race and a space to call their own. ...more...

[Yokohammer]

I hope this trend helps to draw attention to the plight of the non-hobby rice farmers, who are currently having a hard time even making a basic living due to the usual irresponsible, out-of-touch-with-reality management by the government. Japanese rice farmers really do need a bit more love than they're currently getting.

[wuchan]

I hope this trend helps to draw attention to the plight of the non-hobby rice farmers, who are currently having a hard time even making a basic living due to the usual irresponsible, out-of-touch-with-reality management by the government. Japanese rice farmers really do need a bit more love than they're currently getting.

These days one needs to be more of a business man than a farmer to make any money. Last year we only sent about 20% of our crop to the JA and sold the rest directly to stores. The only reason we send any to the co-op is because they give discounts on materials and equipment.

[Samurai_Jerk]

I hope this trend helps to draw attention to the plight of the non-hobby rice farmers, who are currently having a hard time even making a basic living due to the usual irresponsible, out-of-touch-with-reality management by the government. Japanese rice farmers really do need a bit more love than they're currently getting.

Are you fucking kidding me? Rice farmers are the assholes that have been holding this country back. I'll be glad when the last of those crusty old dinosaurs finally kicks the bucket.

[Yokohammer]

Are you fucking kidding me? Rice farmers are the assholes that have been holding this country back. I'll be glad when the last of those crusty old dinosaurs finally kicks the bucket.

Don't know what you're basing that comment on, but I'm guessing you haven't done your homework on this one.

[wuchan]

Are you fucking kidding me? Rice farmers are the assholes that have been holding this country back. I'll be glad when the last of those crusty old dinosaurs finally kicks the bucket.

It's not the farmers, it's the JA and the government.

[Samurai_Jerk]

It's rural voters keeping those LDP dipshits in power, it's protectionism and subsidies that make rice ridiculously expensive in Japan, and it's farmers pouring toxic sludge into their rice paddies while claiming to be the defenders of Japan's rural communities and natural beauty. Fuck those mother fuckers.

[Yokohammer]

It's not the farmers, it's the JA and the government.

Precisely. But I'd go a step further to say that even the JA is being reamed by the government to some degree. The vested interests that are essentially destroying agriculture in this country are mostly in the government.

It's rural voters keeping those LDP dipshits in power, it's protectionism and subsidies that make rice ridiculously expensive in Japan, and it's farmers pouring toxic sludge into their rice paddies while claiming to be the defenders of Japan's rural communities and natural beauty. Fuck those mother fuckers.

As a matter of fact I'm just preparing to head up to Miyagi this evening, where I own a house in what is primarily rice-growing country, near some of my family who just happen to be rice farmers. I'll pass the message along.

[wuchan]

It's rural voters keeping those LDP dipshits in power, it's protectionism and subsidies that make rice ridiculously expensive in Japan, and it's farmers pouring toxic sludge into their rice paddies while claiming to be the defenders of Japan's rural communities and natural beauty. Fuck those mother fuckers.

everyone around here has DPJ posters up, I know that doesn't mean that that is the way they vote.

[Samurai_Jerk]

As a matter of fact I'm just preparing to head up to Miyagi this evening, where I own a house in what is primarily rice-growing country, near some of my family who just happen to be rice farmers. I'll pass the message along.

And your point is?

[Yokohammer]

And your point is?

My point is that your "Fuck those mother fuckers" comment is unnecessary, arrogant, and based on nothing but your own personal prejudices which are, as far as I can tell, significantly under-informed in this case.

[Samurai_Jerk]

My point is that your "Fuck those mother fuckers" comment is unnecessary, arrogant, and based on nothing but your own personal prejudices which are, as far as I can tell, significantly under-informed in this case.

Farmers can't make a living because what they do is no longer sustainable. Why should taxes go to subsidize an anachronistic lifestyle? Why should consumers pay so much more than the rest of the world for what is supposed to be their staple food? Why should farmers in other countries who are more efficient be blocked from one of the world's biggest markets?

[Yokohammer]

Farmers can't make a living because what they do is no longer sustainable. Why should taxes go to subsidize an anachronistic lifestyle? Why should consumers pay so much more than the rest of the world for what is supposed to be their staple food? Why should farmers in other countries who are more efficient be blocked from one of the world's biggest markets?

Because people's lives and livelihoods are at stake. The farming "system" in its current form is unsustainable because the government has imposed regulations that make it so. It's not that farming itself is unsustainable. Someone has to grow the rice (and everything else), and it's obviously a very bad idea for any country to become totally dependent on imports for their staple food. Most of Japan's rice should be grown in Japan, and the government needs to make that a viable proposition both for the producers and consumers. Instead of doing that, however, they have recently changed the regulations in such a way that even more farmers have no option but to give up farming and find other sources of income, or starve. Smart? I don't think so. Mother fuckers? Nope. Those people work very hard and struggle to keep production going for very little in return. In fact the JA gouges them for equipment and fertilizers they can barely afford.*

The farmers are most emphatically not the "mother fuckers" your ire should be directed at.

Edit: and an added note, if the farmers want the "benefits" of working with the JA (in other words, if they want any chance of making a living at all), they must use the fertilizers, equipment, and even the seeds that the JA specifies and (of course) sells.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Because people's lives and livelihoods are at stake. The farming "system" in its current form is unsustainable because the government has imposed regulations that make it so. It's not that farming itself is unsustainable. Someone has to grow the rice (and everything else), and it's obviously a very bad idea for any country to become totally dependent on imports for their staple food. Most of Japan's rice should be grown in Japan, and the government needs to make that a viable proposition both for the producers and consumers. Instead of doing that, however, they have recently changed the regulations in such a way that even more farmers have no option but to give up farming and find other sources of income, or starve. Smart? I don't think so. Mother fuckers? Nope. Those people work very hard and struggle to keep production going for very little in return. In fact the JA gouges them for equipment and fertilizers they can barely afford.

The farmers are most emphatically not the "mother fuckers" your ire should be directed at.

There are plenty of people out there who disagree with the whole premise of your argument. Let those mother fucking mother fuckers face a free market like so many other industries. If they can't survive, then fuck 'em. Fuck the government too.

[Yokohammer]

There are plenty of people out there who disagree with the whole premise of your argument. Let those mother fucking mother fuckers face a free market like so many other industries. If they can't survive, then fuck 'em. Fuck the government too.

If that's going to be the level of the discussion, then forget it.

Why bother. I'm done with this one.

[Samurai_Jerk]

If that's going to be the level of the discussion, then forget it.

Why bother. I'm done with this one.

Your opinions don't matter anyway. You wear a flu mask and take the plight of Japanese farmers personally for fuck's sake.