Yarns about yams: Blogging Japanese farmers

Kurashi -- the "Eco blog" -- has provided a useful post on the rise of Japanese farmers' blogs. These sites not only let city-dwellers better understand the nature of growing fruits and vegetables but breaks the oft-held stereotype of farmers being country hicks unaccustomed to 21st century technology.

From Hokkaido's Fujimori -- a grape grower -- to Okinawa's Papaya House, Japan's farmer blogs give a sense of the full diversity of agriculture happening within the nation's borders. Most blogs are in Japanese, of course, but Pure Land Mountain is an American's take on farming in Japan.

Following blogging farmers, however, need not be solely about lusting after pics of fresh vegetables grown deep in the countryside. Kurashi also lists a few blogs that show how to farm on your own balcony, like this one on 'hanging parsley.'

We hope that more Japanese farmers join the blog revolution soon, but that it also remains a grass-roots phenomenon. Imagine the horror if Ameblo got in on the action and turned the Agriculture 2.0 game into a celeb-fest.

(Hat tip to Global Voices Online.)