Nirmal Singh Ranswal, an unconscious XII-class from Champawat, Uttarakhand, takes the field with a tape measure. On this particular morning, he needs to plant cabbage; between each two saplings must leave a precise space of 30cm. Why, this is the seeding pattern followed in large swathes of Ichihara located in Chiba Prefecture in Japanwhere he is employed.
With over 20% of the country’s population aged over 65, Japanese farmers they are recruiting agricultural work from all over the Indian countryside. About 18 people, including Nirmal, were the first to leave in 2022; there are hundreds more lined up to leave in 2023. The workforce on these farms, predominantly Vietnamese and Chinese, does not include simple laborers. Skilled Indian Workers now they are also among those heading to Japan, thanks to a program run by the central government.
Monit DoleyA 31-year-old PG graduate in East Siang, Arunachal, he has worked in a local restaurant and farmed paddy on a small patch of land owned by the family for most of his life.
Japanese farmers are recruiting agricultural labor from across the Indian countryside. Monit Doley, 31 from Arunachal, worked in a local restaurant and grew rice on a small patch of land. Now in his uniform, boots, and gloves, he’s in the midst of what’s being described as a “scientifically planned harvest week” at a farm in Kawakami Mura in Nara. Her routine starts at 3 in the morning: they harvest the vegetables early when there is natural moisture on the produce.
“Although it is a fact that Japan needs young immigrants from all over the world for various jobs, it is about finding the right people with the right skills. Not only do they need farmers, they need soil technicians, ranchers of horses,” said Kavi Luthra, the managing director of a consultancy firm that works with the Maharashtra government and facilitates opportunities for local youth.
According to central government records, as of December 2022, 598 skilled immigrants have left for Japan under an internal technical training program run by the National Skill Development Corporation. Of these, 34 were hired from Maharashtra, Skills Minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha said. Agriculture is one of the sectors that young Indians look up to.
The impact of Japan’s aging and shrinking population is seen in everything from its GDP and industrial output to the shape of its cities and public infrastructure. More than 20% of the population is over 65, the highest percentage of seniors in the world. By 2030, the trend will accelerate, with one in three people aged 65 or over and one in five aged over 75.
“Japanese corporations want to recruit farmers, a passed out Class X or XII who worked on farms or someone who did a program in agriculture or horticulture,” Luthra said. In addition to the salary which is largely repatriated home by the workers, the company takes care of accommodation in WiFi-connected dormitories and also provides insurance.
The contract is watertight with clear rules for working hours and holidays, details of pay scales ranging from around 1.2 lakh yen (Rs 75,000) per month inclusive of labor tax and with room for overtime . No wonder then that many day laborers in the fields in India are signing up to send their children to Japan. Openings like the one recently advertised by a Japanese company for the collection of Koyamaki (umbrella pines) send Indian recruiting agencies into a frenzy; basic research on the nature of work needs to be done in order to recruit the right workforce. “The work is not to grow plants or vegetables, but to climb the mountain, cut and harvest Koyamaki that grows on the mountain, and bring them down the mountain. However, it is a job that is also done by a 50-year-old Japanese man” , says Koyamaki’s announcement. Many Indians are willing to find their Ikigai (life purpose) in a role like this, harvesting evergreen coniferous pine trees to use as an imperial coat of arms for members of the Japanese royal family. Shiv Kumar of Palwal in Haryana and Satish Kumar Shrivastav of Baniganj are among those who took to the skies last year after learning a smattering of Japanese. The first week in Japan was “embarrassing to say the least”.
“After that, we only saw the good things in life here. For example, the owner of our company also works with us. Nobody is rude here. Even the smallest parts are planned and they do a lot of fertilizing to keep the soil healthy,” he said Shrivastav. Once Kumar got a call that he was one minute late after his lunch break. He switched to life according to Japanese standard time after that incident. “I’m never late for work, not even a fraction of a second. I don’t know how I’ll survive Indian Standard Time if I come back when my contract expires after three years.”
With over 20% of the country’s population aged over 65, Japanese farmers they are recruiting agricultural work from all over the Indian countryside. About 18 people, including Nirmal, were the first to leave in 2022; there are hundreds more lined up to leave in 2023. The workforce on these farms, predominantly Vietnamese and Chinese, does not include simple laborers. Skilled Indian Workers now they are also among those heading to Japan, thanks to a program run by the central government.
Monit DoleyA 31-year-old PG graduate in East Siang, Arunachal, he has worked in a local restaurant and farmed paddy on a small patch of land owned by the family for most of his life.
Japanese farmers are recruiting agricultural labor from across the Indian countryside. Monit Doley, 31 from Arunachal, worked in a local restaurant and grew rice on a small patch of land. Now in his uniform, boots, and gloves, he’s in the midst of what’s being described as a “scientifically planned harvest week” at a farm in Kawakami Mura in Nara. Her routine starts at 3 in the morning: they harvest the vegetables early when there is natural moisture on the produce.
“Although it is a fact that Japan needs young immigrants from all over the world for various jobs, it is about finding the right people with the right skills. Not only do they need farmers, they need soil technicians, ranchers of horses,” said Kavi Luthra, the managing director of a consultancy firm that works with the Maharashtra government and facilitates opportunities for local youth.
According to central government records, as of December 2022, 598 skilled immigrants have left for Japan under an internal technical training program run by the National Skill Development Corporation. Of these, 34 were hired from Maharashtra, Skills Minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha said. Agriculture is one of the sectors that young Indians look up to.
The impact of Japan’s aging and shrinking population is seen in everything from its GDP and industrial output to the shape of its cities and public infrastructure. More than 20% of the population is over 65, the highest percentage of seniors in the world. By 2030, the trend will accelerate, with one in three people aged 65 or over and one in five aged over 75.
“Japanese corporations want to recruit farmers, a passed out Class X or XII who worked on farms or someone who did a program in agriculture or horticulture,” Luthra said. In addition to the salary which is largely repatriated home by the workers, the company takes care of accommodation in WiFi-connected dormitories and also provides insurance.
The contract is watertight with clear rules for working hours and holidays, details of pay scales ranging from around 1.2 lakh yen (Rs 75,000) per month inclusive of labor tax and with room for overtime . No wonder then that many day laborers in the fields in India are signing up to send their children to Japan. Openings like the one recently advertised by a Japanese company for the collection of Koyamaki (umbrella pines) send Indian recruiting agencies into a frenzy; basic research on the nature of work needs to be done in order to recruit the right workforce. “The work is not to grow plants or vegetables, but to climb the mountain, cut and harvest Koyamaki that grows on the mountain, and bring them down the mountain. However, it is a job that is also done by a 50-year-old Japanese man” , says Koyamaki’s announcement. Many Indians are willing to find their Ikigai (life purpose) in a role like this, harvesting evergreen coniferous pine trees to use as an imperial coat of arms for members of the Japanese royal family. Shiv Kumar of Palwal in Haryana and Satish Kumar Shrivastav of Baniganj are among those who took to the skies last year after learning a smattering of Japanese. The first week in Japan was “embarrassing to say the least”.
“After that, we only saw the good things in life here. For example, the owner of our company also works with us. Nobody is rude here. Even the smallest parts are planned and they do a lot of fertilizing to keep the soil healthy,” he said Shrivastav. Once Kumar got a call that he was one minute late after his lunch break. He switched to life according to Japanese standard time after that incident. “I’m never late for work, not even a fraction of a second. I don’t know how I’ll survive Indian Standard Time if I come back when my contract expires after three years.”
