Gender Equality in the Future of Farming

Among economically developed countries, Japan is notable for having large discrepancies between male and female roles in society. Although circumstances are still in the process of changing, it is said that the old-fashioned concept that “men work outside, and women protect the house” becomes stronger the further you go into rural areas. Kazuko points out that this trend can be even more obvious in the field of agriculture, where farmers tend to work with their families.  “I got married to a farmer, and I worked with his family all the time, but there was no salary. If there was something I wanted to buy, I would consult with my parents-in-law to obtain the money. Even though it was how they used to do it and they are not bad people at all, I didn’t feel great about it, as I felt I was treated like a child and people didn’t acknowledge my efforts. I liked the farming itself, as my family were also farmers. So I was helping my family’s farming from a very young age, and loved the idea of working together as a family, although it was sometimes harder than what the old TV drama ‘Oshin’ used to suggest. But it was true that I also started to question spending my entire life just between the house and the fields.”

"The cheerful mother's shop", which Kazuko represents, is now working on a variety of business and commercial projects in addition to running the main grocery shop; such as crafting and selling obento, lunch box meals, other original products, and managing classes for those who want to try their hand at traditional cooking. How did she and her co-workers end up reaching the current annual sales of 200 million yen? Ms. Ishigaki laughs brightly and says- "every first step is hard, isn’t it?" "In 2000, our group of 100 female farmers went to the local administration to submit a petition for the establishment of a grocery sales office, but it was rejected. I was very upset. But if we simply gave up, we knew that nothing would improve for the next generation of farming women. So we decided to establish this company by investing our own money, in 2001. At that time, people in the local area were still unaware of consumer food standards. I came to realise a lot of things when I was out of our home prefecture attending large food exhibitions, such as what we are good at and what we should do more of”.

For example, local farmers thought that consumers prefer beautiful products at the time so they used to use artificial colouring. But Ms. Ishigaki realised it’s not only that it should not be used, but that artificial colouring was becoming a positive obstacle to sales. She and other members exchanged views and observations at the monthly meeting, and she also found that you need to have stories to tell to the customers. "I’m aware of how important it is for our shop to have dedicated customers, especially as farming is very unpredictable business, where nature always has a say. I know there are people who will kindly wait for us even if the harvest is a bit delayed due to the weather. People can substitute products, but products cannot substitute people. We treat the connection with people very diligently”. 

And finally, what does food really mean to her? She pauses for a little and answered softly.  “It’s about connecting. It’s connecting our lives to future generations, and also connecting our hearts”.  Food connects the past and the future, cities and regions, people and land. And food can also connect people with people. Her soft Akita dialect gives me a feeling of connection as she bids me good-bye, saying "it’s always beautiful here, so come again".