TJ intro, newbie

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Frass2k4
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TJ intro, newbie

Post by Frass2k4 »

Hi my name is Terrence but call me TJ.

I am from Jamaica and been living in Japan for a couple years now. I have always been interested in trying my hands at farming here in japan but have always been given negative information. Like only japanese people can run farms/own farmland. Or i need japanese wife, or it doesnt make any money or i have to speak fluent japanese. So after a few year passed i kinda stopped thinking about it and then i saw this forum after searching for how to grow salad greens on my veranda in japan. So i thought maybe you guys can shed some light.

So enough of my mumbling. What are some important information i need to know about farming,
Can i rent a plot of land or do i need to buy. Do i need a license to sell products.

Side note does anyone know about beekeeping here in japan?

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Zasso Nouka
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Re: TJ intro, newbie

Post by Zasso Nouka »

Hi TJ and welcome to Japan Simple Life, thank you very much for taking the time to sign up and join our little community. We really do appreciate you making the effort.

First off you or anyone can own a plot of land but if it's farmland then you would have to be a registered farmer to buy it, that may or may not be practical depending on what you want to achieve. Do you want to become a full time farmer or are you looking to rent a small plot and grow vegetables for yourself and friends ? If it's the later you could enquire at your local city hall to find out if there are any share hatake (allotments) nearby where you could rent a small plot, many cities and towns have such plots either owned by the city or private individuals that they rent out. No special qualifications or registration is needed. You also don't need to be married to a Japanese national and if your Japanese is up to speaking to the shiyakusho then that's good enough.

If you want to become a full time farmer then it gets a little more complex. To buy farmland you would need to become a registered farmer, that can be relatively easy if you life in a town that wants to encourage newcomers or it can be nearly impossible if they don't or anywhere inbetween. Unfortanately there is no way to predict how a particular town or city will interpret the rules as each one seems to have a different policy so you'd need to speak with the agricultural department of any city you'd like to live in.

However not all farmland is classified as farmland, my own fields and the ones I rent are classified as sanrin (mountain and forest) so potentially anyone could farm them without any restrictions at all and I don't have to join the local Nougyou Inkai or listen to what JA wants or comply with many of the directives that come from our city agricultural department. Basically, within reasonable limits I can do as I please with my land and grow whatever I want however I want.

I'm not 100% sure but I think as a non farmer you can rent farmland, one of the ways to become a registered farmer is to rent or 'control' 1500 tsubo (the area needed varies from region to region) so that implies a non farmer can rent or 'control' the farmland before they are registered. In practice it's a bit of a grey area but if you are renting a plot of farmland out in the sticks and not a registered farmer I doubt anyone is going to be overly concerned and likely no one official would ever know. One thing though only a registered farmer can sell produce from land that is officially zoned as farmland (sanrin is free from that restriction), you can consume it yourself or give it away no problem but officially you can't sell that produce.

As to whether you can make a living, it can be done if you find the right markets that are willing to pay a reasonable price for your produce. You probably aren't going to become rich but you can make a decent living.

Once again thank you very much for joining JSL. I'll answer your bee question later if you don't mind, I've got some seeding to do before it starts raining again.

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Re: TJ intro, newbie

Post by gonbechan »

TJ, so lovely to have you here.

Zasso has answered your questions about owning and happily I can help you with the renting of allotments for growing your own stuffs.

I am not sure which area you live in but for a search nationwide you can go to https://www.sharebatake.com/farms and possibly find somewhere close to you to rent.

If the pickings are slim on that site, go to google and either search for 貸し畑 plus your address, or just make sure to have share location on.

There are a few threads about bee keeping, so have a poke around.

Looking forward to more posts from you.

Frass2k4
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Re: TJ intro, newbie

Post by Frass2k4 »

Wow thanks Zasso and gonbechan. You guys really have a wealth of knowledge. Maybe for now its best to rent a piece of farm land and my girlfriend and i might be thinking of buying a piece of property soon hopefully i can find a sanrin in the area we decide to move to as i am interested in beekeeping more than salad greens. I am off to work so i will do some more research later.
Oh i would doing this as an extra source of income not fulltime.

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Re: TJ intro, newbie

Post by Zasso Nouka »

No worries, happy to help.

Possibly sanrin would suit your needs well and come with the least complications if there is something like that available in the area you are looking at.

Hope you find something

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