Think the Earth

Harvesting cotton on a farm at Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture.　

Japan is littered with "abandoned farmland" otherwise known as "deserted arable land." According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, as of 2010, approximately 400,000 hectares of land remained abandoned for over a year, without any plans for cultivation over the next few years. More and more arable land is being deserted each year, the key factor contributing to this being the aging population of farmers.

A new project is being launched to reuse such "abandoned farmland."

The project offers day tours, which invite tourists to experience farming, enjoy a wonderful lunch box, and to soak in the onsen. Participants will spend the day pulling out weeds, removing sediment, and plowing the land. This helps transform the abandoned farmland into arable land. Instead of just one or two people, the tour brings together a larger group of people so that we may all have fun farming. The tilled land will be made available as rental farmland.

Mr. Keita Tsujimoto, the team leader of green bird Kyoto is planning the tours. green bird is an NPO that encourages people all around the country to respect the slogan, "Littering? That's ugly and uncool!" and to pick up the trash littering the streets.

Last fall, Mr. Tsujimoto took part in a tour that was aimed to help areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake. That is when he came to realize keenly how grave the issues surrounding deserted arable land is. Not only did he enjoy helping with the harvest, he was also happy to have experienced the possibility of transforming deserted farmland into arable land.

Mr. Tsujimoto heard some of the participants wish that similar tours were available somewhere closer because then they would take part more often. So he began thinking about starting one in a different region, and formed a partnership with My Farm, which aims to reduce deserted arable land in Japan to virtually zero. These lands managed by professional farmers and tilled by volunteers will bear fruit. The first tour will take place in Kamigamo, Kyoto in March.

Mr. Tsujimoto explains that "Social issues are not the responsibility of a single individual, rather, we should tackle them as a team. What's important is that we help solve the issues in the end. What I can do is encourage people to take part. Those of you who feel like working up a sweat, please come and join us. Those of you who can spare some change, help us organize our tours through crowd funding!"

Many students, who have had zero experience farming, are very interested in this program. They may have the time, but perhaps not the funds to take part. If you would like to help them out, please check out the crowd-funding site, "CAMPFIRE." People who make a donation will receive an assortment of vegetables or a complimentary ticket to take part in one of the tours.