Farmers drive tractors down the street in the city of Hiroshima, heading to the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Dome during a rally.
HIROSHIMA/YAMAGATA, Nov. 25 — A total of some 300 farmers and consumers took to streets in the cities of Hiroshima and Yamagata on Nov. 24 to call for income security.
Similar rallies have been organized by farmers and held nationwide since December last year.
The people led by tractors and minitrucks marched through the streets in downtown Hiroshima. It was the second time such a rally took place in Hiroshima Prefecture, after the one held in the town of Kitahiroshima in July.
Among some 100 participants, around 60% attended for the first time.
Kumiko Asaeda, a farmer and vice head of the Hiroshima rally’s organizing committee, said, “I’m relieved that we could complete the rally without any accidents, but I strongly felt that we need to work more to make our activities better known.”
An event was held in Hiroshima before the rally for farmers and consumers to exchange opinions. A group of cabbage growers from the city of Akitakata in Hiroshima Prefecture performed a play themed on farmers’ income security. They said an income security system would allow them to continue farming with relief, while letting consumers purchase farm produce stably and at appropriate prices.
A man who runs a large-scale farm in the town of Sera in Hiroshima Prefecture explained that small-size farms bear a variety of roles, including sustaining communities and landscapes. Protecting small farms through an income security system would also help maintain large-scale farms, he said.
A man in his 40s, who took part in the event with his family, said, “Income security is important. The system would be able to support potential farmers in addition to helping existing farmers.”
In downtown Yamagata, farmers and consumers marched with 20 tractors and minitrucks.
Some 200 attendants walked roughly 2 kilometers down the streets in the busy shopping district, calling for income security that matches the levels in Western countries and protection of farmers who have gone beyond their limits.
Emi Emori, 42, of Yamagata, who participated in the rally with her children, said with determination, “As a consumer, I’m fighting together with farmers to safeguard our children’s food environments.”
Norimasa Onodera, 43, co-head of the Yamagata rally’s organizing committee and head of Shonai Kyodo Farm, an agricultural producers’ co-operative corporation in Tsuruoka, Yamagata Prefecture, said, “We must join hands with consumers to make an appeal to the government.”
Some 200 people attended a forum held in Yamagata following the rally.
Farmers and consumers stepped up to the podium to speak about the distress of farmers and criticize the government for failing to respond. Japan is planning to spend more than 10 trillion yen annually on defense spending, while agricultural budgets total only 2 trillion yen, despite the fact that food is essential to people’s lives, they said.
Five tractors lead a rally of farmers and consumers in the city of Yamagata.