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Yamagata Girls Farm

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Yamagata Girls Farm
IndustryAgriculture
FoundedApril 1, 2009; 15 years ago (2009-04-01) in Murayama, Yamagata Prefecture, Japan
FounderNahoko Takahashi
Headquarters
Murayama, Yamagata Prefecture
,
Japan
OwnerNahoko Takahashi
Number of employees
6 (2014)
Websitegirlsfarm.jp

Yamagata Girls Farm (山形ガールズ農場 Yamagata Gāruzu Nōjō) is an agricultural organization in the city of Murayama in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan, whose goal is to promote agriculture work amongst young women.

Description

Yamagata Girls Farm lies about  400 km  north of Tokyo in Yamagata Prefecture.[1] As of 2014, Yamagata Girls Farm had seven members in their 20s and 30s, all of whom held agriculture degrees, though the farm does not require members to hold a degree. They grew watermelon, spinach, taro, and five kinds of rice,[a] from which they also made baked goods to sell. The farm sells online and through restaurants and hotels.[3]

Background

As of 2011, agriculture made up 1.2% of Japan's GDP and provided 39% of Japan's food self-sufficiency. Food self-sufficiency was 73% in 1965 and steeply declined as government promotion of manufactured goods led to rapid urbanization and an aging rural population who increasingly had to supplement their incomes with outside work. Young people have tended to avoid agricultural work due to stereoptypes of it being laborious and biased against women. Faced with an aging population reliant on food imports has prompted the Japanese government to invest in agriculture and to raise awareness of women's rights in farming, such as the rights to land ownership and income.[1]

History

Nahoko Takahashi[b] returned to her parents' home after graduating from Yokohama National University.[4] Her father was a farmer whom she had helped while growing up.[3] She developed a determination to revitalize Japanese agriculture and founded Yamagata Girls Farm as a the corporation employing women in agricultural work, as there were few farms in Japan that welcomed female workers.[4]

As of 2014 Yamagata Girls Farm had yet to turn a profit.[4] The farm was focusing on rice grown with organic methods as a main source of income.[5]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Until 2013 the farm also grew tomatoes, eggplants, and cucumbers.[2]
  2. ^ 高橋菜穂子 Takahashi Nahoko

References

  1. ^ a b Kakuchi 2013.
  2. ^ Yoshida 2014, p. 3.
  3. ^ a b Demetriou 2014.
  4. ^ a b c Yoshida 2014, p. 2.
  5. ^ Yoshida 2014, p. 4.

Works cited

  • Demetriou, Danielle (2014-03-20). "Women Change the Face of Japanese Farming". Modern Farmer. Archived from the original on 2014-07-24. Retrieved 2016-10-20. {{cite magazine}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Kakuchi, Suvendrini (2013-06-26). "Agriculture Leans on Japanese Women". Inter Press Service. Archived from the original on 2013-08-25. Retrieved 2016-10-19. {{cite news}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  • Yoshida, Tadanori (2014-03-14). "Yamagata Gāruzu Nōjō, Ima" ガールズ農場は、いま [Yamagata Gāruzu Farm, Now]. The Nikkei. Retrieved 2016-10-20. {{cite news}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help); Unknown parameter |subscription= ignored (|url-access= suggested) (help)
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