2 weeks ago
Japan’s farmers shift to nighttime work as heat intensifies
Japanese summers are becoming so hot that farming during the day can be dangerous.
Some farmers now work at night or very early in the morning.
This helps protect people, plants, and animals from heatstroke.
Flower farmer Motoaki Iijima uses lights to harvest flowers after sunset.
Poultry farmer Tetsuya Usuba turns on lights at 2:30 a.m.
so his hens can eat before the hottest part of the day.
Even with fans and water sprays, some of his hens have died from the heat.
Older farmers are especially at risk because many Japanese farmers are over 65.
Japan has introduced new safety rules and is encouraging machines to reduce workers’ exposure to extreme heat.
Farmers across Japan are moving field and livestock work to nighttime or early morning to avoid dangerous heat.
A record 59 agricultural workers died from extreme heat in Japan in 2024, more than double the 2021 total.
About 70% of Japan’s farmers are aged 65 or older, increasing their vulnerability to heat stress.
Poultry farmer Tetsuya Usuba lost more than 500 hens six summers ago and 130 more during a recent temperature spike.
Japan’s 2025 workplace rules require heatstroke reporting and emergency plans, while the government is promoting drones and robots.
- Who
- Japanese farmers, including flower grower Motoaki Iijima and poultry farmer Tetsuya Usuba, along with their workers and livestock.
- What
- Farmers are changing their schedules to work at night or in the early morning as heatwaves intensify.
- Where
- Japan, including farms in and around Nikko north of Tokyo.
- When
- During increasingly hot Japanese summers; 59 agricultural workers died from extreme heat in 2024, and new workplace rules took effect in 2025.
- Why
- To reduce the risk of heatstroke and protect crops, livestock, and agricultural workers from dangerous temperatures.
Key facts
- Agricultural heat deaths
- A record 59 agricultural workers died from extreme heat in Japan in 2024.
- Farmers’ age profile
- Around 70% of Japan’s farmers are 65 or older.
- Labor hours lost
- Heat exposure cost Japan’s agricultural sector 926 million labor hours in 2024.
- Economic impact
- Heat-related labor losses across Japan’s sectors represented about $46 billion in lost income, or roughly 1% of GDP.
- Poultry losses
- Tetsuya Usuba lost more than 500 laying hens six summers ago and 130 birds during a recent heat spike.
- New safety rules
- Japan’s 2025 workplace regulations require heatstroke reporting procedures and emergency response plans.
- Adaptation measures
- Farmers are shifting work hours, while Japan is promoting drones and robots to reduce heat exposure.
Quotes
Motoaki Iijima
Japanese flower farmer
““Summer has become a new threat to producers like us, something as scary as an outbreak of avian influenza,” the 48-year-old says. As he checked on his birds one recent afternoon, the thermometer read 33 C. Many of them were panting with their beaks ajar.”
theprint.in
““The hours around dusk are really precious. That’s when we can be outside,” he says, wiping sweat from his forehead under rows of halogen lights. “We’ve gradually become nocturnal. It’s about protecting our bodies, and ultimately, our lives.””
theprint.in
Sources
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