Specific examples of working hours by rice farming scale in Japan

Working hours in Japanese agriculture vary depending on individual farms and the scale of rice cultivation. Small, independently run businesses tend to involve a lot of manual work and long working hours. On the other hand, large-scale individual operations are becoming increasingly mechanized and working hours tend to be reduced. Looking at rice cultivation scale, small-scale farmers rely more on labor and tend to work longer hours. Large-scale farms are able to increase efficiency through the introduction of machinery, which shortens working hours relatively. These data show the impact of size and mechanization on labor hours.