These must be desparate times.

[Nagged]

Seems like there is a lot of this nowadays.

Feel sorry for the old boy. Wonder if someone is going to think up a good countermeasure. Neighborhood patrols or something? Must take a fair while to havest this much rice.

Thieves plunder old farmer's rice crop

OITA -- A local farmer was shocked Saturday to discover his entire rice crop in Oita Prefecture stolen just before he was about to harvest it, police said.

At around 9:30 a.m., the 75-year-old farmer went to his 3,000-square-meter rice paddy in the Hatakeda district of Usa to harvest his rice only to find the entire crop gone, local police said.

Police rushed to the field and confirmed that 1.5 tons of rice, worth 410,000 yen, had been stolen.

A local resident saw someone harvesting rice in the paddy on Oct. 8., and told investigators that he wondered why the rice was being harvested so early.

The victim lives about three kilometers away from his rice field, according to investigators. He has been using the field owned by a relative for about 30 years.

The paddy is located in an agricultural district near Buzen-Nagasu Station on the JR Nippon Line. (Mainichi Shimbun, Japan, Nov. 1, 2003)

[plaid_knight]

Sung to the tune of "Ice, Ice Baby":

rice, rice baby
rice, rice baby

all right stop, grab a table and a menu
rice is back in his oriental venue
hungry, for a little chop suey
i want chinese , not hong kong fooey
you know what you want
yo, can't decide
column a, column b
i like fried
barbeque spare ribs
my fingers i'm lickin'
waitin' for the main course
kung pow chicken
spicy
i mean hot like a stir fry
if you can't take it
order moo goo gai
pan
means chicken and mushroom
and while you're on the soup
the food is here too soon
no substitution but ya get hot tea
they say vegetable
but that means snow pea
if i get dessert
yo i deserve it
check out the chow while the waiter serves it
rice, rice baby
rice rice baby
you're eating sweat and sour
but you will be hungry in less then an hour
use chop sticks it don't, it don't matter
fingers were made for a poo poo platter
egg rolling
with egg foo young
my dinner is cooking like connie chung
noodles on standby
chow mein nearby
eggdrop
no i'm a wonton soup guy
soy sauce
hot mustard smokin'
my plate is clean
and my fortune cookie broken
bustin a bite of mongolian beef
get a mint toothpick for my
teeth takeout leftover low mein
if i eat any more i'll have a wait gain
if i get dessert yo i deserve it
check out the chow while the waiter serves it
rice,rice baby
rice, rice baby
yo man lets get out of here
tip to the waitress
rice rice baby to go
rice rice baby to go

[Big Booger]

Are their rice fields insured?

[Nagged]

I did a quick search with Google for crop insurance. It does exist in Japan but of the sites I looked at, I did not see any specifics regarding theft in particular (perhaps if I looked harder something might be found)

However, I did find this site which outlines specific guidlines for implementation of insurance for theft, so the concept does exist, if not the policy itself.

http://www9.ocn.ne.jp/~witem/mel_back/2003_10_14.htm

It mentions periodic checks to ascertain value, minimum payments when theft does occur etc. Another idea mentioned is traceability to prevent stolen produce from being sold at markets.