When Genki Sakurai began working for his family¡¯s rice farm 17 years ago, there were more than a dozen rice farmers in his neighborhood in the city of Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture. Now, he says, only three remain.
¡°Rice producers don¡¯t want to pass down an unprofitable business to their children,¡± says the 38-year-old Sakurai, the ninth-generation owner of a 300-year-old rice farm cultivating 24 hectares of the nationally recognized Koshihikari brand of rice.
¡°Rice prices were too low and farmers operate at a loss,¡± he continues. ¡°So parents tell their children, ¡®You¡¯re better off becoming an office worker.¡¯¡±
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