Junko Asari was a successful businesswoman in Tokyo seven years ago, earning about 30 million yen a year importing pets. Today she is a happy farmer in Akita Prefecture growing rice, mushrooms and other vegetables.
Asari, 33, is one of those "I-turn" people who have given up their businesses or successful or promising bureaucratic, academic and company careers to escape from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo and other cities in favor of farming in rural areas. The "I" basically denotes a one-direction move.
Asari and her husband, Kaneteru, 45, live in Tashiromachi at the foot of the Shirakami mountain district, cultivating about 4.5 hectares of paddies and other crops.
The turning point in her life came in the fall of 1993, when she was invited by a journalist friend to visit Somalia, which was embroiled in a civil war.