Technology of Agriculture in Japanese

This is very interesting, yes, who used to be a sports major, why finally decided to go to Japan. Where have you worked so far?

I graduated 2015, after graduating I had time to teach sports feelance in Cimahi as a volleyball trainer in college, and a sports teacher in schools for a year. After that I left and worked at EO (Outbound, Tour and Travel, etc.).

What was your turning point in learning Japanese?

Actually, I have always liked anime, but I never thought of working in Japan, it’s just that when my KKN was in a group with Japanese literature students, she often brought Japanese books. I learned from him, and it turned out to be fun too. Even though I finished KKN, I continued to study and study, so when I watched anime there were at least the words I could understand.

Until now I have continued to study and the target now is to pass the JLPT N3.

Then, who did you get information about working in Japan?

I was recommended by LPK by my seniors who taught me during KKN. Actually I’m looking for a 3 year old one, but there are only one-year programs. While in LPK I underwent training for 3 months, such as being taught how to work in Japan and also learning in terms of the language.

It turns out that the training is quite short. What were you working in Japan at that time?

I work in agriculture. And it works in the fields. Even though the program is one year, the full work is only 7 months, because if you enter winter you cannot grow crops. Before starting work, there he studied Japanese again for 3 weeks.

Where were you working at that time? And what does it do?

I work in the prefecture of Nagano. There they are taught how to grow vegetables, sow seeds, harvest and send vegetables to collectors. If entering the harvest season, his working hours can exceed the usual standard working hours.

In Japan, farmer businesses include individual companies and own several fields. At that time my boss owned 7 fields. One field is 4x the ball area and the other is the volleyball field. All processes have used machines, from making mounds, watering, to giving vitamins too. The manual ones are only planting and harvesting.

Wow, it turns out pretty tough too. But the great thing is that you can do it even though there is no agricultural basis at all. In addition, very few young people are interested in working as farmers. What about working hours? Because I think farming is different from other jobs.

If it’s in the growing season, I start working at 7 to 4 in the afternoon. But in the harvest season, I sometimes start working at 12 pm or 2 pm. I work every day and have no days off. Especially the harvest season in July, August, September there are almost no holidays, at most half a day off.

But because there is no holiday, the income should be not bad, right? hehe, a little leak about his income.

Monthly salary depends on the season too. If it rains you don’t work, you automatically don’t have any income. And there I was paid by the hour. Monthly I can get 180,000 yen but this has not been deducted. If the harvest season is in August, I can get 280,000 yen.

In my opinion, in Japan the heavier the work the more expensive the pay. But even so it remains different, the internship fee is 750–800, while the Japanese are 1200–2000 yen.

Oops, it’s the middle of the night. The reason why he started working at that hour?

Because the cut vegetables should not be exposed to direct sunlight. And the vegetables should not be exposed to the sun either. After the vegetables are cut, they are watered immediately so that the sticky sap does not turn the vegetables yellow, because this can lower the selling price. In addition, vegetables are packed there after washing to be ready for distribution to every supermarket.

I am not too detailed about agriculture, but I feel that the method of harvesting is very different, huh. What vegetables are planted in the field? And how many people were working there at that time?

In my field, letuce and chicory are special. There are 3 Indonesians who work at the vegetable company where I have an internship.

From the learning results while you were there, are you not interested in applying it in Indonesia?

Of course I am interested in applying the knowledge I get, but the tools are very expensive. For example, there is a tool to perforate mulch, or even a plastic cover, unlike in Indonesia.

Besides that, what are the differences between the agricultural system in Japan and Indonesia?

The problem of collectors may be the same as in Indonesia, but in Japan it is more strict and pays great attention to quality. These collectors have contracts with farmers, and their yields are valued by these collectors. Suppose how much sales this year. Each box is different from one farmer to another, each has its own number that has been registered with the collectors. That’s why my boss is the most talkative when it comes to cutting vegetables. If the vegetables are not in accordance with the predetermined standards it can reduce the report, if the value is bad, it means that the quota is limited, for example, from 300 boxes to 200 boxes, and this of course affects income.

Plants that pass the harvest limit can reduce the price of vegetables. The weight of the perdus should not be less or more than the prescribed amount. For example, chicory must weigh 16 kg per piece.

Outside of your work routine, what do you usually do?

Outside of my work routine, I usually go for a walk using my bicycle, because my area is in the mountains like Lembangnya Bandung, so it is very nice to cycle. Or sometimes I go to a friend’s apato or just take a trip to the city, especially when on vacation I go to Tokyo, Asakusa, Shinjuku and others.

It’s been bad traveling around Japan too. What’s the most memorable thing while you were there?

The thing that impressed me the most was his extraordinary cleanliness and discipline. I think they are more faithful than Muslims (haha). Very obedient and obedient to the government and the government is not arbitrary to the people. Then, there I rarely found trash cans on the side of the road, only in mini markets and malls but they were still clean. Meanwhile in Indonesia, although there are many trash cans, they are still dirty.

Amazed by the cleanliness

Yes, yes. There is no doubt about cleanliness in Japan. This is what we actually want to apply in Indonesia, but if each person does not have the awareness to maintain cleanliness, there will never be any change.

When talking about obstacles, what obstacles do you encounter while living your life there?

My obstacle as a Muslim man is that it is difficult to carry out the Friday prayer, so I don’t do it. But if other apprentices are near the mosque, they can pray during recess. Actually, when it comes to praying, I can steal time. Although back to their personalities. If I deliberately take it to the field. From my apato to the fields about 15 minutes, usually after lunch I pray straight away.

The hardest thing is the fasting duration of up to 16 hours, and this is a test in itself. Especially when I get caught fasting, I like to be scolded by Japanese people. Because they think that Muslims fast all day long. Actually they are only worried about health. If you fast, then you die and I also had a fight with them about this. Finally I came up with an idea, so I gave lunch to my friend without my boss knowing.

It turns out that going to Japan is a lot of challenges. Starting from challenges in terms of environment, culture and language. But the toughest challenge is when the ideology that we hold is contrary to the prevailing ideology in Japan, let alone the Islamic ideology which is still foreign to them. I really appreciate your efforts to uphold these principles. Salute! Hehe

Finally, please let me know messages for the readers す か SUKI who read this article.

My message is to be ready to strengthen your intention, mentally and physically, and most importantly, language. Don’t be fooled by the Japanese (hahaha), especially in agriculture, the work is quite heavy. But I guarantee you, if you can conquer agriculture, you can conquer other apprenticeship programs, because I don’t think there is a job as tough as farming. And one more thing, don’t be afraid because we are protected by the Japanese government, because they are very responsible. . . . . . . . . .

Thank you very much Tama for the contribution! Hopefully with this article many people are interested in trying to go to Japan.