Japan's agricultural sector has been facing a workforce shortage for many years due to the country's aging population. While the solution adopted abroad has been to import immigrant workers, mostly from third-world countries, the Japanese government is now looking towards a more cost-effective and practical solution: mechanization.

The rise of automation and mechanization has been transforming many industries, and agriculture is no exception. As a result, many farms in Japan are turning to technology to address the workforce shortage. A good example is Ishihara Food, a factory in the western prefecture of Kyushu.

After being founded in 1976 as a vegetable wholesaler, the company entered the frozen vegetable business with the ambition to ship delicious Miyazaki vegetables all over Japan.

They initially had many farms under contract, but in time many closed due to the difficulty in procuring the necessary workforce.
In 2020, some 250,000 people engaged in agriculture and the average age was 67.7 years. Only 23,000 people were under 49 years, which meant 70 percent of farm workers were over 65 years of age. These numbers are frightening enough to have put the whole sector on high alert.

But while it was getting harder and harder to import labor from abroad, especially during the pandemic, over the years the mechanization process has grown steadily.

In the past 15 years, staffing levels at Ishihara farm has been reduced by more than 90 percent. From about 50 employees, they’re down to three or four today. One may think that the production was going bad but the opposite is true.
At Ishihara farm, they have put QR codes almost everywhere that you scan while standing. The whole process of everyday labor is decided by software that instructs the few remaining employees what to do and when.

Twenty years ago when they first thought of replacing humans with digital technology in the fields, they started by creating a network for field management of a total of 500 hectares in 750 locations. Smartphones are used to manage all processes including work records, growing conditions and quantities of agrochemicals used.

This move towards mechanization in the agricultural sector has several benefits. For one, it saves money on labor costs. Machines do not require salaries or benefits (just maintenance), and they can work round the clock without the need for breaks. Additionally, machines are easier to deal with than people, especially when they are from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds, which can create communication and cultural barriers that require additional resources to overcome.

However, there are also potential downsides. One concern is the impact on employment. While machines can increase efficiency and reduce labor costs, they also replace human workers, potentially leading to job losses. This could exacerbate existing social conditions, particularly in rural areas where opportunities are already limited.