JT with Farmers

Miyako Island is about 45 minutes from Okinawa’s main island by air. Known for “Miyako blue,” the superb blend of its crystal clear sea and white coral reef, it’s one of Japan’s top resort islands, bustling with surfers, divers and other water sports enthusiasts, as well as regular crowds of domestic and international tourists.

The island’s dominant marine image shifts in a few minutes as we travel southward by car from the airport through broad rural landscapes dotted with sugarcane fields and cattle stables.

In one corner of this rural area, Yusuke Sunagawa operates a tobacco farm.

“Now, in May, it’s our harvest season. With my family and part-time workers, I go out into the fields every morning to harvest tobacco leaves, carefully, one at a time.”

Despite his easygoing demeanor, Sunagawa is a consummate professional on his AP-1 agricultural vehicle, gauging the maturity of each leaf instantly for speedy harvesting. As deft as he is, though, tobacco farming was not the profession he had originally set his heart on.

“My grandfather started the tobacco farm in 1973, my father inherited it, and I became the third-generation owner. From around the time I was in school, I was already helping out on the farm when I’d rather have been hanging out with my friends.”

Before long, Sunagawa left home for Tokyo and took on a job outside agriculture. However, by the time he was 21, the family farm had grown extremely busy, and so he started helping again, thinking he’d give it a try without much serious thought. “I never imagined I’d still be here over 20 years later,” he laughs. He also emphasizes his appreciation for the people who have supported him in getting where he is now.

“Above all else, the experienced farmworkers were very kind. They taught me just about everything I know, like tobacco farming and the local community - difficult things and fun things as well. I learned from them the true joy of agriculture, where a little bit of ingenuity can lead to a big harvest and high profits. Now, I feel this is something I want to continue doing as long as I can.”

Tobacco is grown in 32 prefectures across Japan, from Aomori in the far north to Okinawa in the far south. It grows even in severe, mountainous environments, and is a core agricultural product in many places. Tobacco farmers contract with JT, many making it the primary focus of their agricultural business.

In Okinawa Prefecture, people have been farming tobacco for over four centuries. Cultivation of flue-cured virginia tobacco began during the Meiji period (1868-1912). As of 2022, there are 132 tobacco farms in Okinawa, with half of them on Miyako Island.

Tobacco farming is an important business here, with tobacco among the prefecture’s most important agricultural products, which also include fruit, vegetables and livestock. Through trial and error, Sunagawa and his family and friends are making daily improvements to tobacco farming, a core industry on Miyako Island.

“There are still many things we can do to increase productivity, like reducing workload. We also work with JT and try introducing new machines and cultivation techniques,” says Sunagawa.

Working alongside Sunagawa is a JT leaf manager. Our leaf managers provide support for farmers to help them grow more and better, offering new information and sharing ideas for improvement. For example, a young leaf manager like Momoka Obayashi can learn a great deal from an experienced farmer like Sunagawa. Farmers and JT work in tandem to discover ways to keep tobacco farming sustainable.

Okinawa farmers sow their tobacco at the end of each year. After months of attention and care they harvest the leaves in April and May, as the hot season sets in, for summer shipment after the drying process. They tax their brains and stay creative to optimize field conditions after each harvest. Tobacco plants demand constant attention, which can be hard on farmers, and it’s no surprise that their community has been steadily shrinking for years. It’s not unusual to see a tobacco field spring up with sugarcane instead, as that crop requires much less work. However, some people on Miyako Island have begun taking up tobacco farming in their early 20s, giving Sunagawa a lot of hope for the future.

“Being young in itself is an opportunity. Taking on various challenges over the past twenty years has made it possible for me to produce results. I’m happy to see young farmers starting new things without fear, and even more happy to help them out,” says Sunagawa.

Having been rescued before by experienced coworkers when he found himself in trouble, Sunagawa says he now wants to be the one in that supporting role giving younger farmers that much-needed boost. This sentiment comes from a spirit deeply rooted in Okinawan culture, namely yuimaaru, which means to help one another.

“For Japanese outside Okinawa, mention of Miyako Island tends to evoke visions of the sea. As for myself, though, I think of the people. Miyako natives are very warm. We help one another and support one another. Mutual support is engrained in tobacco farming on the island, and I think that’s why it has continued here and will continue into the future,” says Sunagawa.

One thing Sunagawa has continued to practice every day since he learned it from experienced farmers when he was young is going out in the field every morning to inspect conditions. His field spans five hectares, but he still visits every patch to check for issues.

“As I check the field each day, I note even the slightest change, and am able to act quickly before something serious happens. I am totally committed to this practice, even after a night of heavy drinking with friends,” he says with a chuckle.

This kind of wisdom has been passed down from parents to children and from experienced hands to novices through the years on Miyako Island. The yuimaaru spirit of people helping one another may be the secret of sustainable tobacco farming on the island.

Tobacco farmers tend to live in regional or district clusters, which is precisely why their relationships tend to be deep and a spirit of helping one another comes naturally.

That tradition lives on here in the Ota district of Iwate-machi, Iwate Prefecture, an old tobacco-farming center in the Tohoku region.

“Once when we were in the last stage of the harvest, my mother fell ill and our family operation suffered a sudden labor shortage. More than ten people from neighboring farms came to help. I really appreciated that,” says Kenta Miura.

Miura is the fourth-generation head of this family farm, which has an 80-year history. In agriculture, the spirit of mutual support is called yui (tying a knot) or temagae (lending a hand), and here it is still a natural part of everyday life.

Miura showed us yet another area in which the strong bonds among farmers are apparent: the use of tobacco fields. When a farmer retires, the community works together to have a neighboring farmer or two take over his fields and carry on the operation. One of Miura’s patches came to him in just this way.

“Retiring tobacco farmers tend to feel strongly that their fields should continue to be used for tobacco production. Once another crop is planted, shifting back to tobacco is very difficult. So, it’s important to smoothly pass on these fields,” says Miura.

Growing tobacco is totally different from growing vegetables. The fertilizers and agricultural chemicals necessary are different both in kind and dosage. It’s relatively easy to turn a tobacco field into a vegetable field, but that’s not the case in reverse since it takes time to adjust the soil to support tobacco.

“I want to keep as many tobacco fields in the community as possible, of course,” says Miura.

Both the fields and the knowledge and expertise of predecessors are passed down as community assets. Clearly, the yui spirit helps protect tobacco-farming culture in Iwate-machi.

Iwate-machi is famous for its branded cabbage. At one time, Miura’s father Shingo started growing cabbage alongside the tobacco. It made money, but the Miura family soon went back to growing only tobacco.

“I was always nervous because prices for vegetables fluctuate with market trends. Tobacco gives me peace of mind, because our contract with JT makes our prospects clearer,” says Miura.

Under the program he mentions, JT buys all the tobacco grown by contracted farmers. A farmer’s income from that contract may differ depending on the quality and volume of the year’s harvest, but in essence a certain level of income is guaranteed. According to Miura, such contracted production also encourages the spirit of mutual support among local farmers.

“There’s no competition among us tobacco farmers in the region. We’d rather raise productivity together so we all reap the rewards. That’s a structure we appreciate. So, we actively share useful information to help sharpen each other’s technical skills,” he says.

Miura is a member of an SNS group consisting of the younger members of the local Farmers Association, where members actively exchange information like tasks for the day and reviews of the latest agricultural equipment. Exchange is not limited to within Iwate-machi, but extends to neighboring Joboji-machi in Ninohe, farther south to Kyushu, and indeed all of Japan.

“Once or twice a year, in seminars and the like, I have opportunities to talk with tobacco farmers from across Japan. Those in nearby regions visit us to learn, and vice versa. Exchanges with hardworking farmers in my generation give me many good ideas, and I get really motivated,” says Miura.

Other farmers are not rivals, but buddies. Especially among younger farmers, this sentiment is so strong that they are more active in sharing information, both online and in person, than ever, with the aim of prospering together rather than competing.

Miura inherited his tobacco-farming business from his parents in 2022. At the age of 36, he is taking charge of the family farm while heading the youth division of the Farmers Association. Aging farmers and few younger people to succeed them are often cited as issues in agriculture. In Iwate-machi, however, the younger farmers are becoming the driving force of the industry. The reason is the region’s unique customs for generational transitions.

Miura’s father Shingo says, “I retired at the same time as fellow farmers who’d been working hard over many years. We gave a lot of thought to how we should end our tenures and pass the business on to our sons’ generation.”

In the Ota district, where the family lives, it’s considered natural for people over 60 to step down from the forefront of the business and allow their successors to take over. That’s why generational transitions tend to happen all at once, rejuvenating local organizations like the Farmers Association and the entire agricultural population of the community. The wisdom of this system helps sustain local agriculture.

“When I was a kid, dozens of my classmates were from tobacco-farming families. They are much fewer today. There are things only the young can do. I’d like them to be proud to be farmers,” says Shingo, cheering his son on. Fewer people may do it now, but tobacco farming definitely remains an important and beloved sector of agriculture for Iwate-machi.

Contributing to local communities is an important theme for JT. In Iwate Prefecture, the company contracted with the city of Ninohe, another tobacco-farming center with which Miura has exchanges, to sponsor efforts to rebuild lacquer-tree forests and the indigenous lacquer industry there.

Much is expected of Miura as a representative of the young farmers of Iwate-machi, such as remaining deeply rooted in the community, cherishing the traditional spirit of mutual support, and helping the local community prosper through sustainable tobacco farming.

His stance is clear: “Every day, I do what has to be done, steadfastly and securely. This consistency is all there is to it.”

In other words, sustainability cannot be created instantly; it comes only through the farm’s many daily tasks. Miura’s words are endorsed by decades of family effort in growing tobacco.