Agriculture, forestry, and fishing in Japan

The importance of agriculture in the national economy later continued its rapid decline, with the share of net agricultural production in GNP finally reduced between 1975 and 1989 from 4.1% to 3% In the late 1980s, 85.5% of Japan's farmers were also engaged in occupations outside farming, and most of these part-time farmers earned most of their income from nonfarming activities.

They were attracted to the government's food control policy under which high rice prices were guaranteed and farmers were encouraged to increase the output of any crops of their own choice.

[3] The most striking feature of Japanese agriculture is the shortage of farmland due to Japan's distinctive geography and geology.

Rice paddies occupy most of the countryside, whether on the alluvial plains, the terraced slopes, or wetlands and coastal bays.

Non-paddy farmland shares the terraces and lower slopes and is planted with wheat and barley in the autumn and with sweet potatoes, vegetables, and dry rice in the summer.

As Jentzsch notes, "The reform package is supposed to rationalize farmland consolidation into the hands of ninaite [bearer] farms, including corporations.

[4] Changing climatic conditions, with increasing temperature trends, decreasing rainfall and intensifying heat waves, droughts and other external phenomena, affect food production.

[5] Responses to the increase in temperature may be directed to the displacement of crop zones to higher elevations where ideal climatic conditions for growth can be found.

[5] Studies have shown that climate change is already having a significant impact on rice agriculture with the increase of extreme events such as heat or dry spells.

[6] These changes represent a serious concern for growers and may become a source of the vulnerability of the crop production system and pose a threat to national food security.

In 1991, as a result of heavy pressure from the United States, Japan ended import quotas on potatoes as well as citrus fruit.

However, after Japan had experienced rapid economic growth, they switched construction material from wood to reinforced concrete.

In this system, artificial insemination and hatching techniques are used to breed fish and shellfish, which are then released into rivers or seas.

Japan has more than 2,000 fishing ports, including Nagasaki, in southwest Kyūshū; Otaru, Kushiro, and Abashiri in Hokkaidō.

[11] Two of the largest fishing companies in Japan are Nippon Suisan Kaisha and Maruha Nichiro; each employs more than 10,000 people and owns subsidiaries around the world.

This includes supporting activities that provide the opportunity to experience stationary net fishing and aquaculture.

There is also a government sponsored on-site training program for individuals planning to make a career in the fishery industry.