Sometimes the stress of life in an office environment is just a bit too much for the denizens of Tokyo. Suicide used to be a common option, but now that's being replaced by things like Akihabara's smashing place and now Marunouchi Morning University's program where Tokyoites pay $400 to learn how to farm.
Some of these people, sick of working in their various fields, are even considering giving up the office life for the daily toil of farming. It's interesting to see the fluctuation from a massive culture of office life in the 70s and 80s turn into a rejection of it -- more and more small businesses are being set up, some people are moving back to the countryside, and now I wonder if many of the family-run shops will find new life? Many of them had been dying out for a while, because kids no longer wanted to be stuck in family tradition.
Do you think you could ever find yourself working on your own farm, and give up on the pressures of the big city?
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Life in New York was too stressful for me last year, so I spent a month in the Dominican Republic.
Hearding cows, washing horses, chopping wood, ahhh it was bliss!
Now I want to spend a week in tokyo to see what happens.
If I end up moving to Japan I'd definitely want to live out in the farmlands. Not as much to do as the city, but definitely more relaxed and a lot less likely to burn a hole in my wallet
いやだ! Don't come out here, stay in your cities. It's nice and quiet here. City folk will just make it noisy and congested. :)
That's my wife's reply. I feel that if people are able to come out here into the farms and live a healthier and more beneficial life, then they should give it a go.
And for anyone like Koiyuki above who wants to come and live on the farms with us - you're welcome. But be prepared for some hard work and early mornings/nights.
[quote]いやだ! Don't come out here, stay in your cities. It's nice and quiet here. City folk will just make it noisy and congested. :)
That's my wife's reply. I feel that if people are able to come out here into the farms and live a healthier and more beneficial life, then they should give it a go.
And for anyone like Koiyuki above who wants to come and live on the farms with us - you're welcome. But be prepared for some hard work and early mornings/nights.[/quote]
Hayakawa, could you give us an idea what's the usual makeup of crops on a Japanese farm in the countryside?
I have worked on a farm for twenty years... I don't see why anyone would want to. Of course, I don't see why anyone would want to work in the city, either. I guess what I'm saying is that work is a miserable rip-off no matter where you're doing it.
[quote] I guess what I'm saying is that work is a miserable rip-off no matter where you're doing it.[/quote]
Big nods to papasan. I'm a city guy, but my sister lives in the country. I guess there are two ways to look at this.
On the macro level: family businesses around her house are being sold to other neighbors because they cannot keep up with world market prices. On the micro level: we are also experiencing in my province an exodus from the city to niche farms, to create better, more specialized farming by-products: micro-breweries, transformed farm products, hydroponic gardens, etc. Even city restaurants have a better channel to get fresher foods on the city outskirts than in the typical city retail stores. Not everybody will land (and love) a job on the farm, but many off them might create something new and interesting.
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Hearding cows, washing horses, chopping wood, ahhh it was bliss!
Now I want to spend a week in tokyo to see what happens.