The Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Prize
Kie Nakauchi, a 31-year-old company employee of Nabari, Mie Prefecture, won the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Prize in the poster design contest for 2013, jointly held by The Japan Agricultural News and the agricultural ministry to promote safe working conditions for agricultural workers.The poster designed by Nakauchi depicts a silhouette of a farmer coming home in the twilight to be welcomed by his daughter, and comes with a phrase “Always keep your mind on working safely. Glad to have you home again safe and sound.” Nakauchi said she created the design by imagining a farmer trying to work safely for his family waiting for him at home smiling.Nakauchi’s work will be used as a poster publicizing the autumn campaign scheduled in September and October to ensure safe working environment for farmers. The contest, the third of its kind, began in 2011 to promote nationwide movement for better safety of agricultural workers, considering that roughly 400 farmers die from work-related injuries every year. This year’s campaign slogan is “Each one of you is a leader. Spread the safety movement!”
The Japan Agricultural News Prize
The Japan Agricultural News Prize went to Kanae Kushibuchi, a 19-year-old student of Shibukawa, Gunma Prefecture, and the winner of the prize offered by the director-general of the agricultural ministry’s Agricultural Production Bureau was Takao Suzuki, a 56-year-old farmer of Kitaibaraki, Ibaraki Prefecture.
The director-general of the agricultural ministry’s Agricultural Production Bureau Prize
Both of the works deal with the safety of tractor driving. Kushibuchi’s poster says “Drive safely until you hear “welcome home!”” and Suzuki’s poster calls on drivers to use tractors with protective frames and says that a moment of carelessness when finishing work can lead to an accident.
(July 23, 2013)