Green tourism, through which city dwellers are able to spend some time in farming villages, is a topic with growing popularity these days. To meet the increased interest and to promote Japan’s agriculture, more and more farmers are providing this opportunity on their farms.

Watanabe Farm opened up their farm to city folks as a “fureiai (hands-on) farm” back in 1993. While they initially worried about whether or not the side business could be self-supporting, they now welcome roughly 35,000 guests per year. Through the activities, Mr. Watanabe hopes to convey the realities of dairy farming. For instance, milk is a product that can only be produced by cows that undergo the risky process of giving birth, and that cows no longer capable of reproducing are slaughtered for meat. People growing up away from farms do not typically learn these basic farming facts in school or other everyday life activities. By allowing others to experience his farm, Mr. Watanabe hopes that they will also gain an appreciation for the preciousness of life, and an understanding of the labor that lies behind the creation of nutrition and food.

It is currently impossible for Japanese consumers to know who produces the milk they drink, as milk collected by dairy farmers is mixed together at a processing plant. This is yet another cause for the gap that exists today between agricultural producers and consumers. A system of trace-ability, similar to that used for meat and vegetables, could help to narrow this difference and provide dairy farmers with a record of who is consuming their produce. Other activities that bring producers and consumers together, and help them and better understand each other, can also help to bridge the gap while also boosting the consumption of milk.

Many of Japan’s city dwellers have an image of farming as an unfashionable, dirty, and rough lifestyle. Overcoming this is an important step towards strengthening Japan’s agricultural industry. For his part, Mr. Watanabe told us that his personal goal is to have the best family, raise the best cows, and produce the best pasture in Japan - a goal that has nothing to do with material achievements and everything to do with the sentiment with which he runs his farm and with which he sees his family as the happiest in Japan.