Japan Rice-Growing Project Supports Families, Single Moms

An initiative to deliver newly harvested rice to single-mother households is spreading in the three prefectures in central Japan's Tokai region.

Photo Insert: Sunset over a rice field in Japan

Mothers and children who recently participated in harvesting rice were thrilled by the fields' bounty, Sanami Kato reported for Mainichi Japan.

The rice planting starts in June, and the volunteers and farmers work together to produce rice in exclusive paddies. Many mothers have expressed their gratitude for this initiative, saying that it really helps them and that their children can now appreciate food.

"Mom, is this rice?" and, "I can't believe this is how rice is made," were some of the comments aired by young participants. In early October in a rice field in Iwakura, Aichi Prefecture, children were trying to harvest rice one after another with sickles in hand while getting advice from Kenichi Irimoto, a 46-year-old farmer who lives nearby.

After reaping some of the crops by hand, Irimoto then used a combine harvester to collect the rice from the approximately 1,000 square meter field.

About 20 mothers and children in seven groups who applied through the prefectural welfare federation of single-mother families and widows participated in the event.

A 41-year-old woman who works part-time at a restaurant in Nagoya's Chikusa Ward, who attended the harvest with her second son aged 7, said that her salary has been reduced because her working hours have been shortened due to the coronavirus pandemic.

"I am really grateful because my children eat a lot, and I can get by with this rice," the woman commented. Her second-grade son, who was harvesting rice for the first time, said happily, "It was fun to reap many crops."

This project was planned by Atsushi Matsuoka, 66, director of a non-profit organization in the prefectural city of Iwakura, and named the "Baiden Project." Volunteers pay for the cost of cultivating the rice and other expenses for farmers to grow the crops.

The harvested rice is then delivered to single-parent families and others. In the case of Iwakura, each family will pay 500 yen (about $4.40) to receive 20 kilograms of fresh rice. By having the families pay even a small amount of money, they hope that people "will not just receive charity, but proudly participate and receive the rice, thinking that it is their own paddy and their own rice."

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