This research aims to present a dynamic interaction between the labor market and agricultural structure, based on a field survey conducted in a village in the southern part of the Okinawa Main Island. The study found that although the surveyed farm laborers seldom faced low non-farming wages in the 2010s, their labor market has two layers. The lower wages range as low as those of the unskilled workers, therefore, a modicum of youth demographic has returned to full-time farming. The income from their lettuce farming helps to realize their expectations. Hence, an agricultural structure of heavy upper/mid layers has been formed even in one of the most preferred local labor markets in Okinawa.

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This study aims to analyze the entry of companies into agriculture due to the easing of the Agricultural Land Act and as a bearer for agriculture. The entry of companies into agriculture is increasing, but their advancement is biased toward specific areas. The role of the entry of such companies in the agriculture structure is limited under current circumstances. However, it is possible that such companies would contribute to the development of new ways for agricultural production based on accumulated experience in farm management and knowledge of farm production. We should keep watch on companies that can own farmland in the National Strategic Special Zones.

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The purpose of this research is threefold: （1）to clarify the current situation of widespread cooperation between agriculture and welfare amid the growing employment of people with disabilities in agriculture in recent years; （2）to investigate and analyze previous studies on this research field in an effort to clarify changes in the employment of people with disabilities in agriculture; and（3）to describe research subjects on cooperation between agriculture and welfare on the basis of the results.

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