The purpose of this paper is to review research on farm structure issues using agricultural census data. From the 1970s to the 1980s, these studies presented different perspectives on the trend of small-scale farmers quitting farming and the trend of large-scale farmers expanding their scale. The factor analysis of farm structure has decreased since 2000 due to changes in survey methodology and the impact of policy changes. The future research perspective should include: first, the development of analysis of changes in farm structure through microdata analysis, second, analyzing the factors of changes in farm management by long-term panel data analysis, and third, analyzing regional farm structure by linkage with other statistics.

In order to contribute to Japan's new policy “River Basin Disaster Resilience and Sustainability by All,” we focused on the disaster prevention function of paddy fields and evaluated their value. A repeated-design experiment was used to examine the valuation of residents in the Edogawa River downstream basin, with a scenario of donation to the flood control foundation for cooperative farmers. The results showed that many residents were willing to donate the money, suggesting the possibility of having public support to compensate farmers whose paddies were flooded institutionally.

Despite the growing importance of open innovation in agriculture, forestry, and fisheries, few academic studies have analyzed its current status. This study analyzed the current status of open innovation in the field of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries using data reported on the activities of the Field for Knowledge Integration and Innovation, a public-private partnership council established by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries in 2016. The analysis revealed that the platforms are formed by a wide range of research fields, and that the proportion of members from other fields may influence the research approach of each platform.

This paper highlights critical issues in restructuring food policy in Japan under the coming revision of the Food, Agriculture and Rural Areas Basic Act. First, food security needs to be conceptualized from the capability perspective to cover one’s total quality of eating. Second, urban areas (not just rural areas) should play a key role in the territorial anchoring of the food policy. To illustrate this feasibility, insights are extracted from the pilot study on the territorial food projects in Kyoto City. The recent food policy in France is also referenced to highlight challenges in future food policy in Japan in terms of its political coverage and decision-making process.

The objective of this study is to explore the determinants of subjective well-being (SWB) and analyze the impact of the pandemic caused by COVID-19 on SWB using a hierarchical Bayesian model. The dataset is a jointed six-year combination of SWB survey data and official statistical data of 1,257 municipalities. The main outcomes are as follows. First, the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted SWB in all municipalities. However, the magnitude is different in each municipality. Second, municipal income, enrichment of consumer life and amenities such as urban parks and green spaces are found to be positive determinants of SWB, while overcrowded living environment and rustic characteristics such as forests and farmlands are considered negative.

In this paper, we analyze the current state of the agreements for direct payments to farmers in hilly and mountainous areas. According to the community-level panel data, we found that 78.6% of 1-community-1-agreements (hereafter, agreements) continued, 12.2% of agreements were abolished and 6.1% of agreements merged, respectively. It was also found that the merged agreements tend to be a relatively higher coverage rate of agreements to cultivated land areas, and have a foundation for agricultural-related activities with other communities. Contrary, the abolished agreements are forced to give their agreements up due to the difficulty of continuing farming activities.

The objective of this study is to examine on current status and issues for promoting farm stays during COVID-19. Through a questionnaire survey and interviews, it reveals that the aging of host families and recruitment of new host families have become problems in the promotion of farm stays in rural areas where the population is aging. In addition, it becomes clear that aging host families were in a negative spiral where they found it difficult to maintain their willingness to host due to the suspension of their activities due to the COVID-19, and as a result, they stopped accepting host families.

The objective of this study is to estimate the additionality of the direct payments for environmentally friendly agriculture in Japan. To this end, we used the municipality-level payment records and data on the organic farming areas. To address the self-selection problem due to the voluntary nature of the program, we used a propensity score matching technique to balance the covariates between the treatment and the control. The estimated average treatment effect on the matched treatment group was 14.8ha, about 82% of the paid areas.

This paper analyzes the current situation of seed potato production under farm size expansion, based on farm management data from town A in the Tokachi region of Hokkaido. Firstly are shown the trend of expansion of farm size, and the change in the planted area of potatoes in 2004 and 2021. Secondly, the production status of seed potatoes is clarified from the relationship between the agricultural management area and the planted area. As a result of that, it is found that although potatoes are a labor-intensive crop, the cultivated area is expanding along with the farm size. However, when focusing on seed potatoes, there is a limit to the expansion of the planted area.

In this study, we used the 2020 Census of Agriculture and Forestry to identify regional characteristics of local resource conservation in rural communities with a small number of farm households and the factors thereof. Based on the results of analysis, rural communities that receive the Multi-Functionality Payment Grant conserved irrigation systems at a high percentage even if the community had only a small number of farm households. Additionally, rural communities in flatland agricultural areas tended to adopt the Multi-Functionality Payment Grant and to cooperate with other communities more readily than those in non-flatland agricultural areas.

The purpose of this study is to analyze how the provision of information regarding the health benefits of olive oil affects consumer behaviors. A choice experiment was conducted with Japanese consumers with a choice-based conjoint analysis using a random parameter logit model. Consumers were divided into three groups: one was given no information regarding the health benefits, the second only the advantages, and the last both the advantages and disadvantages. The results showed that consumer evaluations of cholesterol 0 labeling were higher when presented health benefits, and the evaluation of all olive oils was enhanced when the disadvantages were also presented.

This study clarified the purchasing patterns of Shonai pork and processed pork products by residents in the Shonai area. The largest amount of pork and raw pork for processed products residents purchase is produced in Shonai and domestically, respectively. To promote purchasing behavior for Shonai pork, it is important to increase willingness to purchase, which is mainly derived from the taste, freshness, price, safety, and availability. Otherwise, to promote purchasing behavior for processed products made from Shonai pork, in addition to increasing willingness to purchase, presenting the origin of the raw pork in an easy-to-understand manner is also necessary.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the relationship between producers and food service from the perspective of value co-creation and to examine how the relationship between producers affects value co-creation. The analysis revealed that producers and food services interacted with each other at events and business meetings. Food services accepted the risk of crop failure by visiting the fields. They publicized their cultivation plans and changed them according to the demands of food services. Results of social network analysis showed that value co-creation was facilitated by the formation of networks among producers for consultation．