ISEHARA, Kanagawa Pref. (Kyodo) Hiroshi Saito, 58, clad in dark jacket, work pants and mud-encrusted shoes, smells of earth.

"I used to wear a suit everyday. When I began farming, I was told, 'That (farmer's) style suits you, too,' " he said with a self-conscious smile.

Saito quit the food firm he worked at for 33 years in 2002 and turned to farming.