Japan has a rapidly shrinking population, its farmers are overwhelmingly elderly and dying off. A fair amount of automation is needed simply to maintain curren

Japan has a rapidly shrinking population, its farmers are overwhelmingly elderly and dying off. A fair amount of automation is needed simply to maintain current production levels, which are already insufficient to cover local consumption, so Japan imports a lot of food from China. Also, Japanese food prices are kept artifically high by a cozy subsidy racket run by semi-governmental coop union JA ($5 for a kilo of rice, anyone?) but that's another story.