Japan is struggling to keep its farms running as farmers age and young people shun the work. This has opened the door for more foreign workers — including a growing number found to be working illegally.
The number of Japanese farmers has dropped by about half since 2000, to below 2 million this year, according to the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries.
About two-thirds of those who remain are 65 or older.
This could slow Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s push for a renewal of the sector. Abe sees agriculture as an important driver of economic growth and has urged farmers to target overseas markets with premium products.
Japan’s agricultural exports hit a record last year, according to the agriculture ministry, thanks partly to a weaker currency. Abe’s administration has been looking to the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal to expose Japanese farmers to more competition and improve productivity.
The pact, which brings together 12 nations including Japan, might be in doubt with the US presidential election campaign fueling protectionist sentiment.
A shortage of farm workers means the rise in exports is not sustainable, said Takeshi Minami, chief economist at the Norinchukin Research Institute, which specializes in agriculture.
Younger Japanese simply are not interested, he said.
“It’s easier to be a salaryman,” Minami said. “You can’t be a farmer unless that’s your passion.”
One result is the rapid rise in productive farmland being abandoned.
Some farms are tapping cheap foreign labor. Japan generally does not accept migrant workers, but many companies use a so-called internship-training program as a back door.
About 7,000 foreign workers entered the agriculture sector through this program in 2013 after passing exams at the end of their first year, according to the Japanese Ministry of Justice. That is more than double the number in 2007.
Authorities last year caught about 1,700 foreigners working on farms illegally, about triple the number just three years ago, according to the ministry.
About 60,000 foreigners remained in the country without permission as of Jan. 1, according to the government.
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