As Japan weighs the possibility of joining negotiations for a Pacific free-trade pact that could force it to drastically open up its agricultural market, it is not only pessimism that is hanging over the domestic farming industry.
At least some in the younger generation appear to be bracing for the challenges they may face in the event Japan joins the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement and hope that the move will truly overhaul the country's agricultural sector, which is plagued by a lack of successors.
"What I have to do will probably not change even if there is an impact from joining the TPP," said Takuro Matsuhashi, 24, who will start his career as a rice farmer from March in his home village in Akita Prefecture, a renowned rice production center.