Japanese Agriculture

Some interesting statistics about Japanese agriculture:

"Japan has the lowest self-sufficiency ratio in the industrialized world. For example, only 40% of calories consumed in Japan are domestically produced, down from 50% in 1988, versus 65% in the U.K. or Switzerland's 52%, the government says. Agricultural output and the amount of land farmed continues to shrink, too."

"That result isn't for a lack of state largesse and protection: Fearing that the opening to rice imports—a product of the early 1990s Uruguay Round of trade talks—would hurt domestic agriculture, Tokyo spent $74 billion over eight years to aid farmers. But rather than spending more on projects to make the sector more competitive—by greatly increasing farm size and efficiency—almost 53% of the funds were spent on public works projects, such as roads and sewers. Only 0.4% went to nurturing new farmers, needed to replace the current crop, which is rapidly advancing in age."

Simms, James, 2010. Get politics out of japan's food fight. The Wall Street Journal, Nov. 2010.

There are many opportunities for American agriculture.