Why does a Japanese farmer live in the middle of an airfield (6 photos)

Remember in China an old house that stands in the middle of a multi-lane highway? Here is the Japanese version of incredible stubbornness that turned out to be too much for anyone. A farmer grows onions, lettuce and other vegetables between the runway and the airport terminal. And he doesn’t feel sorry for anyone.





The farmer's name is Takao Shito, and his entire family has been farming for 100 years. And he doesn’t want to interrupt the family tradition.



He sits and cleans onions from the ground against the backdrop of a parked airplane.

Although for the money that the airport offers him (from 1.7 million dollars!) he could buy himself a farm in any region of Japan. Moreover, villages in Japan are now empty and the houses in them are literally given away for free by the local authorities - for repairs.

But no! Takao is not happy with this; he wants to stay in the house that his family built 50 years ago. Back then, it could not have been predicted that Narita Airport would grow so quickly and become the second largest in Japan.





Well, it’s good to live there, it’s my heart’s name day

So almost every Japanese can admire these beds of stubbornness during takeoff and landing during a flight.

The Last Samurai

There used to be a village here, but the remaining 30 families took compensation and moved back in the 1970s. Only Toichi, Takao's father, remained, and he made his son promise to stay when he died at the age of 84.



He says in an interview, “I have organic production. It’s not easy.” I just breathed out that organics are healthy!

So the son continues the great story of stubbornness. And he has been litigating with the authorities for more than 50 years, and they cannot evict him in any way!

- I was offered an amount that exceeds my earnings for 150 years! But I’m not driven by money, I just want to do agriculture,” Takao tells reporters.



Of course, his beds are without a single weed, super neat. Maniac, probably

By the way, his vegetables are selling out quite successfully. He says he has 400 regular customers and has weathered Covid better than any other farmer. Because planes did not fly over his head, the air became cleaner and the cabbage grew bigger.

Is he crazy or...?

The story of a stubborn farmer with an inherited farm does not move me. It ruins the lives of millions of people by preventing the airport from being expanded. Grows vegetables under airplane fumes. For what?

In any other rural region he would have been torn off with his hands. He probably has some Yakuza secret buried on his property and is too afraid of a police investigation.



I have two dreams - to work in agriculture AND IN AVIATION