Thursday 20 August 2020

Like David And Goliath,

Takao Shito has taken on the might of Japan's Narita Airport,


photographs ISTANBUL HAVACILIK KULUBU 1995 UYE GRUBUTakao Shito’s family has been growing vegetable on the same farm for over 100 years. His grandfather was a farmer, his father as well, and now he has taken on the same mantle, only things are a bit different for him than they were for his ancestors. Where before the Shito farm was part of a village of around 30 families surrounded by open fields, today it stands alone in the middle of Narita Airport, 

jets fly over his head 24 hours a day, and his only way to and from the farm is through underground tunnels. Most people would be dying to move away, but not Takao Shito. He has been fighting to keep his farm for over two decades and even refused an offer of over $1.7 million for his land, “These are pieces of land farmed by three generations for nearly a century, by my grandfather, my father and myself. I want to continue living here and farm,” Shito told AFP, a couple of years ago, Takao Shito has constantly been involved in legal battles to stop authorities from forcefully drive him off the land that his father has been farming for over 100 years ever since he returned home. It’s tiring, as is the farming itself, but he has no intention of backing down,

His struggle has become a symbol of civil rights, and hundreds of volunteers and activists have rallied to support him over the years, “I got offered a cash settlement on the condition I leave my farm,” Takao told the BBC,  “They offered 180 million yen ($1,687,320). That’s 150 years’ worth of a farmer’s wages. I’m not interested in money, I want to continue farming. I never considered leaving.” this story so much reminded me of one we posted just a week or so ago, but the time the 'action'took place in China.


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