The Japanese Government launches a full-fledged campaign to promote “farm stay tours” at rural communities in agricultural, mountainous and fishery villages.
The campaign aims at stimulating new demand for tours visiting rural areas which leads to increases in local people’s income and employment.
The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) has appropriated 5 billion yen in a budget for the “farm stay tour” promotion campaign beginning in fiscal 2017.
MAFF’s budget is earmarked to subsidize “village revitalization bodies” such as non-profit organizations and other local residents’ associations initiating a farm stay business.
The subsidy will partly meet costs of working out tour programs in respective rural villages as well as repairing a traditional farmer’s house into a farm-stay facility.
A farm stay tour is characterized by its various attractions including experiences of farm works, communications with local residents and enjoyment of a rural life.
Although most of farm stay businesses have been initiated by individual farmers in Japan, MAFF expects that a village-wide campaign will bring about a growth of income in the rural society.
MAFF plans to increase a number of farm stay tour villages up to five hundreds by the fiscal year of 2020.