Japanese farmers switch to night shifts as deadly heatwaves worsen

As Japan endures more frequent and severe heatwaves, growers from flower fields to poultry barns are abandoning traditional midday work in favor of nocturnal and early-morning shifts. Motoaki Iijima, who transformed his family’s historic rice farm near Nikko into a gerbera operation, now harvests under halogen lights after sunset to avoid interior greenhouse temperatures that can exceed 40 °C. Veteran worker Miyoko Asada begins cutting asters just after sunrise, while poultry farmer Tetsuya Usuba feeds his 4,400 hens at 2:30 a.m. to sidestep lethal heat, though a recent spike still claimed 130 birds.

Japan’s aging farmer population—about 70 % are 65 or older—saw 59 heat-related deaths in 2024, more than double the 2021 toll, and lost 926 million labor hours, equating to roughly $46 billion in GDP loss. In response, 2025 regulations mandate heat-stroke reporting and emergency plans, and the government is encouraging drones and robots to reduce exposure, yet many farms continue to rely on manual adaptations.