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At the Minuma-tanbo Welfare Farm in Saitama City, young volunteer farm workers are providing agricultural assistance and protecting the precious environment. The Welfare Farm is required by law to grow organic vegetables without the use of chemicals. Honda tillers and power carriers are hard at work there making composts and preparing the soil. As a result, the number of diving beetles, worms, moles, pheasants, and other farm wildlife is on the rise. The effect on efforts to protect the environment of Minuma-tanbo, well preserved since the Edo Period and one of the cherished natural locations in the suburbs of Metropolitan Tokyo, is by no means small.
The leader of these volunteer farm workers is Kohei Inose who grew up amid the natural environment of Minuma. "Most of our volunteers are students, and we see different faces each year. We can also see the farm starting to evolve as a place where people can share their passions with friends through the farm work." The number of people attempting to maintain some sort of interaction with the farm after they graduate and find jobs is starting to increase." Inose points out, and his volunteers hope that the circle of fellowship will expand to include the disabled, helping them to gain independence, as well as further protecting the Minuma-tanbo environment.
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