For Takeyuki Satokawa, 81, and his wife Masako, 77, the past autumn was the first season in which they bought rice grown by someone else.

The couple, living in Higashihiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture, stopped growing rice in their small family paddies in 2024 due to old age and rising costs.

¡°Let¡¯s eat,¡± they said together as they held their bowls of freshly cooked rice one day in early November.

After a bite, the husband paused and said, ¡°It¡¯s a bit hard.¡±

The wife studied the rice before saying, ¡°Maybe it¡¯s how we cooked it.¡±

The taste of newly harvested rice ¡ª once a seasonal pleasure they looked forward to every year ¡ª felt a little unsatisfying for them.

As the meal went on, Satokawa muttered, ¡°My hands go numb, and I can¡¯t eat properly. I worked too hard.¡± He underwent surgery about a year ago, but the symptoms remain. ¡°I can¡¯t lift a 30-kilogram bag of rice anymore, or handle the fertilizer sprayer the way I used to.¡±

After graduating from junior college, Satokawa worked as a local civil servant in the former town of Shiwa (now part of the city of Higashihiroshima) while continuing to farm about 40 paddies ¡ª roughly 2.4 hectares ¡ª that had been passed down through generations of his family. Even after retiring from civil service, he kept the fields going for more than 20 years before finally reaching his limit.

¡°I feel half relieved, half guilty,¡± he said.

His wife, who had watched him struggle for years, smiled gently. ¡°It was painful to watch. I just wanted him to rest,¡± she said.

They have already sold their combine harvester and rice-planting machine. Inside the now-empty shed stand two cold-storage containers for rice. Opening their doors, Satokawa gave a wry smile.

¡°The one on the right is the new rice we bought for the first time ¡ª ?12,000 for 30 kg. The one on the left is the rice we grew ourselves for the last time ¡ª ?5,000 for 30 kg,¡± he said.

In 2023, before rice prices surged in what became known as the ¡°Reiwa rice crisis,¡± the couple ran a deficit of about ?600,000 due to rising machinery-maintenance and fertilizer costs. ¡°If we replaced the machines, the deficit would have been ?1 million. It would only burden our children,¡± Satokawa said. Worsening profitability pushed him toward the decision to quit.

The couple have three daughters, all with families of their own. Over the past five or six years, they have sold some of their paddies to solar power developers and others, reducing their holdings to about 30 fields.

Satokawa said he will sell more if buyers emerge but hopes to leave...