While Japan is aiming to increase its food self-sufficiency, both its farmland and number of farmers are in decline.

In 2024, Japan’s total farmland covered an area of 4.3 million hectares, or 11% of the country’s total land area, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries. This is a decrease of 30% compared to the peak reached in 1961, when farmland covered 6.1 million hectares. Factors behind the decline include the conversion of farmland into residential or industrial sites, and the degradation of some land so that it is no longer designated as agricultural land.

The number of farmers in Japan also continues to decline. Those engaged in self-employed farming as their main profession, referred to as “core agricultural workers,” were estimated to number 1.1 million in 2024, as compared to 2.4 million in 2000. In other words, in a little over two decades, the farming population has fallen by more than half. The graying of the agricultural workforce also continues, with the average age of core agricultural workers at 69.2 in 2024. Among these workers, 71.7%, or 799,000, were 65 or older.

Increase in Area of Rice Paddies

In response to the sharp rise in the price of rice from the summer of 2024, the area for planting rice was increased year on year by 6,000 hectares in 2025, for an estimated total of 1.52 million hectares, according to figures released by MAFF on October 10. The area of that land used for planting rice as a staple food was 1.37 million hectares, for a year-on-year increase of 108,000 hectares.

However, previously the area of rice paddies had been declining at the steady pace of around 10,000 hectares per year. The 2025 area is only roughly 70% of that in 1995, which amounted to 2.11 million hectares.

Data Sources

• Data on farmland (Japanese) from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries.
• 2024 White Paper on Food, Agriculture, and Rural Areas (Japanese) from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries.

(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo © Pixta.)

Published Date: November 11, 2025