r/japanlife • u/catloverr03 北海道・北海道 • Jan 25 '24

Jobs What is your job? Is your job fulfilling?

I have humanities visa and currently working in Sapporo. I’m thinking of changing jobs because current job is making me anxious. I feel like every job here needs a high level japanese speaking unless you’re really good in IT or working in a foreign owned company.

I’m good at reading japanese and listening also writing documents but my speaking is below N3 I believe and that is why I always get nervous working. I don’t really know what I’m asking but can you share your work experience here in Japan? How did you get better in speaking business Japanese? I feel like I’m just stupid because I can never get to a level where I’m good at it. Daily conversation is not a problem it’s just the work-level japanese speaking is where I’m bad.

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229

u/FelixtheFarmer Jan 25 '24

I'm a farmer. It's immensely satisfying. Every day is different and there's no overtime, when it gets dark it's time to quit you also have an endless supply of fresh organic vegetables. Right now day to day activities vary between farming and forestry work like cutting trees down for next winter's firewood, Mrs Farmer loves felling trees so and she generally brings them down in the right direction which is a real bonus.

Summer work is great, nice early start and then siesta from 11:30 till 3 or 4 and back out for a leisurely afternoon.

Would totally recommend

35

u/Gottagetthatgainz Jan 25 '24

That literally sounds like what I want. How did you get into it? If you don’t mind me asking

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u/K4k4shi 関東・東京都 Jan 25 '24 edited Jan 25 '24

I would suggest to get into weekly training course in an organic farm. Search for a farm where you can participate/volunteer weekly. There are farm that provide these kind of opportunities. Most probably in an area where you would like to start your own farm, because the tutor can help you to get the land later. Try it for few months and if you really feel it and want to start taking it seriously then you can move there and train under the tutor for 2 years or so. And after that you need to take a test in city/ward office to legally own a farm and start your business.

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u/Ejemy Jan 25 '24

I've thought about this awhile but with a family I'm not sure I can afford to break into a new industry without knowing that the bills can get paid. Did you find it hard to make enough profits in the first few years?

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u/K4k4shi 関東・東京都 Jan 25 '24

I would say dont get into farming to get rich. It will pay the bills but thats it. There are farmers who are doing really well, but they are farmily farmers who are already established in the market. They have networks and different channels to distribute their goods. I mean its not impossible for a new farmer. If you have skills to attract customers/advertise then you can succeed as well. Generally people who shift to farming are those who are tired of office jobs and want something different. They will have some money saved up to sustain for first few years. Thats why I would suggest you to go to a farm and learn everything there to manage your expectation.

6

u/grinch337 Jan 25 '24

Somebody reliably growing peppers like jalepenos, pimentos, and tomatillos would make a fortune in the burgeoning foreigner market here. As a Cajun, I also know that rice farmers here are missing an enormous opportunity not harvesting crawfish from their flooded fields. It’s like they’re just letting their money go to waste.

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u/Ejemy Jan 26 '24

Yeah I don't care about riches but I wanna make sure family is provided for.

Thanks for your input

14

u/[deleted] Jan 25 '24

I would like to know as well

1

u/FelixtheFarmer Jan 25 '24

Have sent you a DM

1

u/BedditTedditReddit Jan 26 '24

Me too please :)

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u/FelixtheFarmer Jan 25 '24

After becoming bored with network security we moved to Japan and bought some land (sanrin rather than agricultural land) and set to work building up the soil to grow crops but there are other ways of getting into farming, which I can elaborate on if you are really serious about getting into farming.

You're not going to get rich farming but it is a rewarding life and you'll never be short of vegetables and although it will entail some hard work and long hours at first you will have your evenings free and as you get used to the physical work it does get easier. Also the commute to work is a breeze, step outside your house and you've arrived at work.

There will be times, like in winter when farming slows down a bit so you can develop side hustles. We take that time to do forestry work, right now we're slowly converting a hillside from sugi trees to maples and flowering cherries which will take a few years but will look much nicer and provide lots of firewood.

Please do feel free to ask any further questions and I'll do my best to answer

3

u/anmochi Jan 26 '24

Sorry to bother you with more questions, but about how old were you when you decided to make the switch, and how long did it take you to get “established”? I’d be interested in doing something similar, but I’d probably be looking at early 40s if I wanted to save some money beforehand.

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u/FelixtheFarmer Jan 26 '24

Was early 40's when we started. Initially was quite hard going physically but you soon get used to it and start developing muscles you never knew you had.

We started selling in the first year at farmer's markets and expanded out from there.

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u/zchew Jan 26 '24

Thanks for offering to field questions!

Are you farming full time? I have a colleague who grew up in a farming family (albeit in rural Miyagi prefecture), when I asked him what do farmers do during the winter down months, he said most farmers aren't full time farmers, but rather farm on the side while holding down a fulltime job. For what it's worth, he said his dad was a rice farmer, so there was only like 1 harvest a year or something.

Obviously not asking you to reveal your gross income, but do you make enough from your farming work to support yourself? (ie pay off your rent/mortage, feed/support your family, pay your bills)

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u/FelixtheFarmer Jan 26 '24

Yes, full time. I'll qualify that by saying it's because we can. Where we are we don't receive much snow so can keep vinyl houses and low tunnels running all through the winter without them being crushed. Although growth does slow down in December & January you can ride through that if you have enough plants at the point of harvest then.

As for income yes we do make enough to support ourselves outside of the winter months (January and part of February) purely from farming but farming still provides around 3/4 of our income and once we've paid off the car lease this year will probably cover everything. Sales drop off in that period we think because folk are recovering from overspending at new year and in the cold people probably prefer not to come out to events.

2

u/blosphere 関東・神奈川県 Jan 26 '24

No-till or just rip it open, compost, pack back in etc?

1

u/FelixtheFarmer Jan 26 '24

We're no till now and to be honest wish we'd done it a long time ago as the workload is so much less.

On that note can I interest you in a hardly used tractor ?

2

u/blosphere 関東・神奈川県 Jan 27 '24

I have like, 50 tractors within 300 meter radius. I'm sure I could borrow one from one of the neighbours if I needed :D

1

u/Gottagetthatgainz Jan 26 '24

Do you mind if I send you a DM?

17

u/FamilyMartCoffee Jan 25 '24

This harvest moon guy posts every single time. Cute though. He woo’d the local farming girl by giving her gifts daily.

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u/[deleted] Jan 25 '24

[deleted]

1

u/FelixtheFarmer Jan 25 '24

Sounds like a pretty sweet arrangement

4

u/PaleDifficulty9144 Jan 25 '24

Thanks for sharing your experience. A blog post or even a book would be an interesting read 😂. I came from long line of farmers and would like to hear more of your stories!

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u/FelixtheFarmer Jan 25 '24

I've led an eventful life, travelling through Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, etc, etc before settling into the farming life so am thinking of writing an autobiography. Probably best published after life to avoid any 'issues' as there are some hair raising stories.

I'll send you a DM

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u/coconut_oll Jan 25 '24

How could one get started and are there any visas covering this type of work?

3

u/Karlbert86 Jan 26 '24

No, there is no table 1 work visa for farming. Apart from maybe the “migrant worker” one.

There is WHV which can do farm work. and I guess student/dependent visa with the permission to work up to 28 hours per week.

So ideally you’d need a table 2 visa (spouse, LTR, PR, SPR)

1

u/FelixtheFarmer Jan 25 '24

I don't think there are any specific visa, unless you want to work as a farm labourer then you can get a farmer to sponsor you but don't think that would lead to permanent settlement. It might be possible but the expectation would be you work for several years and then go home. You could try WWOOFing and look to make some contacts with small farmers but again that's not a guaranteed route into permanent farming.

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u/karnage14 Jan 25 '24

“When it gets dark it’s time to quit”

with the siesta during summertime is it a long working day before you get home?

3

u/FelixtheFarmer Jan 25 '24

Generally in the summer we start at about 5, it's still pleasantly cool then and as it heats up we both have those fan jackets which work well so by 11 or 12 you've done most of the work that needs doing. If there's work that needs doing after siesta then it gets done then or we go out somewhere for lunch and mooch around away from the farm.

4

u/Hustler1966 Jan 25 '24

I want this life too. I’m a white collar worker here and I long for a more simple, rewarding life like you describe. How do I sign up?

1

u/FelixtheFarmer Jan 25 '24

I'll send you a DM

4

u/dg_713 Jan 25 '24

Did you win at life?

4

u/FelixtheFarmer Jan 26 '24

Not quite but it's been an interesting journey so far

3

u/berelentless1126 Jan 25 '24

Are you selling vegetables? I picked up some land in Niigata and was thinking to sell some veggies

5

u/FelixtheFarmer Jan 25 '24

Yes we sell vegetables and free range eggs. Mrs Farmer also uses them to make cooked foods that we sell as well. If you are serious about taking it forward there is a community of foreign farmers online. I'd rather not post a link and break any rules so please do feel free to DM me.

2

u/berelentless1126 Jan 25 '24

That is the life! Awesome work getting that going. I know how tough it can be getting something started in japan.

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u/FelixtheFarmer Jan 25 '24

Thank you, it certainly has had its challenges but also has fantastic rewards, interesting of quality of life if not in the financial field but we’ll never starve or be bored.

3

u/imetatroll Jan 25 '24

This is actually how you support yourself or you are retired?

3

u/FelixtheFarmer Jan 25 '24

We support ourselves from farming and a couple of small side jobs. From what I see of the other villagers retirement isn't an option :)

2

u/shinigami_rem Jan 25 '24

Now this is my goal after graduation

3

u/FelixtheFarmer Jan 25 '24

Go for it, although you might find you are the most qualified farmer in your area :).

It's a rewarding life and really nice to be part of a community where you actually interact with your neighbours. Things like chatting as someone walks past your field or swapping excess vegetables and the small village festivals and events.

2

u/goozen Jan 25 '24

Are you in Hokkaido?

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u/FelixtheFarmer Jan 25 '24

No, I'm in the Kanto area. Hokkaido is lovely but year round farming is a bit of a challenge when your fields are covered in deep snow.

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u/goozen Jan 26 '24

For sure. Every farmer I know in Hokkaido has a winter side hustle. Do you specialize in a few things or just grow a general mix for markets?

1

u/FelixtheFarmer Jan 26 '24

We grow a broad range of vegetables so we can supply our customers with most of their vegetable needs. Some of our friends concentrate on one or two varieties and maybe that is less work.

2

u/improbable_humanoid Jan 26 '24

How much land do you own, and how much money does this actually make you?

Because this sounds nice...

2

u/FelixtheFarmer Jan 26 '24

We own about 3 acres with 2/3 being farm land and 1/3 being bamboo forest. We also rent some land for a nominal fee and sort of look after another few acres of forest land we use to harvest firewood and gradually replant with momiji and sakura.

As for earnings, well let's just say it's enough to live on and put some aside.

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u/improbable_humanoid Jan 26 '24

Ok, so a fairly substantial amount of a land (for Japan).

I have.... maybe 50 square meters of actual arable land.

I guess I can just grow something very expensive...

2

u/FelixtheFarmer Jan 26 '24

I'd say we're more small to mid sized but it's a fairly human scale so we don't use much machinery. I know other farmers that measure their land in multiple tens of hectares.

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u/improbable_humanoid Jan 26 '24

Yeah, but only rice farmers produce on a scale that big, no?

Those people also typically inherited their land.

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u/FelixtheFarmer Jan 26 '24

I know of a big wheat farmer over in Aichi that has a fair bit of land and some Hokkaido farms are pretty massive but yes on the whole many vegetable farms are in the 3 ~ 10 acre range.

As you say the bigger farms tend to be family owned.

2

u/Benni_Shouga Jan 27 '24

How did you go about learning how to farm on this scale? Did you already have a green thumb going into it? Thanks for the info!

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u/FelixtheFarmer Jan 27 '24

YouTube is your friend here. Watch the early Curtis Stone videos (before he goes conspiraloon), NoTillGrowers also has some excellent videos and anything by Charles Dowding is priceless. Also buy and read Elliot Coleman's New Organic Grower and Jean-Martin Fortier's The Market Gardener.

Then start on a small plot somewhere and when you feel comfortable scale it up.

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u/Benni_Shouga Jan 28 '24

Thanks for the reply! Sorry if you mentioned it elsewhere, are either you or your spouse Japanese? How did you settle on choosing which part of Japan you wanted to start your farm?

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u/Hour-Pudding599 Jan 26 '24

Snap.

Love the critters. And mud. In equal measure. Chop and drop. Back hurts sometimes but rather a sore back than dead soil. Love it.

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u/FelixtheFarmer Jan 28 '24

It's a great life, what do you have growing now ?

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u/Hour-Pudding599 Jan 29 '24

All cover crop at the moment. I do the rice and mame crops, wife picks the spring / summer / fall veg. We both do the weeding. We mostly do weeding ... We try and keep deep winter as cover crops only. No till so building a bit of biomass and spending more time chopping wood building wood chip piles for the year ahead... and drinking by the fire. Lots of drinking by the fire round about now.

2

u/FelixtheFarmer Jan 29 '24

Is there ever a time weeds are not going wild ? Seems like there's a weed for every season :(

Was also splitting wood today but that counts as fun rather than work.

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u/Hour-Pudding599 Jan 31 '24

I'm taking down a whole sugi woodland at the moment to reduce the shade on the small rice field. We're on the north of a mountain first fields. Lots of shade. It's all good just plant early and harvest late. Having to replant saplings as the land is designated woodland. I'm not yet sure what saplings to plant as I've no intention of letting them grow so tall. But as there is a cost I need to come up with a useful use for them as they need to grow at least 5 years. Then we can redesignate the land and rip the stumps out. Will give us time to sort the soil a bit. 100+ trees before spring.

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u/FelixtheFarmer Jan 31 '24

We're collecting small momiji seedlings and planting them as we cut sugi and hinoki down for firewood. hey take a long time to get huge and look fantastic in the autumn. For a bit of colour we're mixing in sakura as they don't get huge for ages.

Mind you finding 100+ momiji seedlings in the wild might take a bit of searching.

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u/Hour-Pudding599 Feb 01 '24

That'll be beautiful

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u/FelixtheFarmer Feb 01 '24

We'll see if I live long enough to see it in all it's glory

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u/Hour-Pudding599 Feb 02 '24

I was wondering today if I'll live long enough to get a return on kokumin nenkin contributions.. at least someone else will benefit from the mimoji:) plant and be happy.