Farmers in many countries are icons of their nation's ethos. But "American Gothic," Grant Wood's famed 1930s painting of a gaunt, stoic-looking farming couple complete with pitchfork, is by no means the whole story. In fact, today it is not even part of it.
Similarly, the notion of the traditional Japanese rice farmer carefully hand-planting seedlings one by one in an age-old paddy is now a thing of the past. This planting is called taue, and the only person who still does it that way may be the Emperor in his annual symbolic ceremony.
But wherever farmers are, and however they work, they are necessarily close to the land and presumably understand it best. Politicians, particularly conservative ones, have long sought to identify themselves with farmers' lifestyles and their plight, subsidizing them and garnering critical electoral support in the bargain. By doing so they have presented themselves as custodians of the nation's spirit.