Several weeks ago, TV Asahi's nightly news show "Hodo Station" ran a special report on the uncertain future of Japanese agriculture.

The report mentioned an incident last November in Kumamoto Prefecture, where a farmer and his wife were murdered and their niece was critically injured in an attack believed to have been carried out by a Chinese trainee who subsequently committed suicide.

The incident is still under investigation and relatives of the murdered couple were shown visiting the offices of The Japan International Training Cooperation Organization to gather information that would give them some clue as to why the trainee might have killed the farmer and his wife.