Japan is in many ways a unique country, and in almost all areas of human activity, the Japanese path of development is different from any other. Japanese agriculture is no exception. Despite the fact that the natural conditions in Japan do not contribute to the development of this type of activity, agriculture and cattle breeding have always been quite developed here. At present, the share of agriculture in Japan's GDP is 2%, which against the general background of an industrialized power looks more than good, especially given the fact that neighboring Asian countries are quite capable of providing Japan with cheap agricultural products. However, this amount is clearly not enough, and Japan is one of the largest importers of food in the world.
The way in which agriculture in Japan develops depends primarily on geographical conditions and historical features. Japan is located on islands of volcanic origin, and the share of arable and grazing land is very small. The area of land used for agricultural purposes is not more than 15 percent of the total area of the state. The main type of farms is small farms, where everything is privately owned. Rice and seafood are traditional components of Japanese cuisine, so the main part of agricultural producers is engaged in rice cultivation - it accounts for over 80% of production. Animal husbandry is poorly developed due to the fact that most of the protein food the Japanese get with seafood, so pasture land occupies a small part of the total area. Despite the fact that recently the growth in consumption of livestock products has been growing, the number of farms engaged in this type of activity is declining, since it is much more profitable to buy these products from neighbors, for example, in China. In addition, livestock feed has to be imported from abroad, and this also affects its profitability.
So, agriculture in Japan is basically rice cultivation. Here it has its own peculiarities: for example, often farmers get much more expensive rice than they sell later - this is due to the fact that they actively and often unreasonably use state-of-the-art machinery and information technologies in agriculture (Japan ranks first in the use of high technologies in this industry), which inevitably affects the cost of the final product. Nevertheless, such farms do not go bankrupt and get the opportunity to develop further, taking into account the experience gained, since since the post-war period, Japanese agriculture, especially rice cultivation, has received comprehensive support from the state, and thanks to this, the demand for this product is fully covered by domestic production .
It is also worth noting that the agriculture of Japan is not only the traditional cultivation of grain and vegetable crops and animal husbandry: silk production is a rather significant direction, for which a considerable part of the farmland is allocated for the cultivation of mulberry. This direction is very profitable, since Japanese silk is very highly regarded throughout the world.
Another unusual direction in the agriculture of this country is the cultivation of pearls. Traditionally, many pearls that have been grown naturally have been mined off the coast of Japan, and recently farms specializing in their cultivation have been opening up more and more often. This type of business brings considerable profit, and therefore is becoming more popular.
Thus, the main distinguishing features of Japanese agriculture are the small size of the land, the high degree of introduction of high technology, due to which almost all professions in agriculture require a high degree of training, comprehensive support from the state for farming, traditional activities and often small efficiency of small farms.