Stealing Vegetables From Unmanned Produce Stands
The sale of produce through unmanned farm stands was once very common around Tokyo, but an article in the Yomiuri reports that those farmers still using this method are often ripped off by thieves:
….a farmer installed a dummy security camera to catch dishonest customers at his vegetable stand. But he soon realized it had little effect and removed it a few months later.
“It’s so frustrating. But they [the thieves] will pay for it someday,” the farmer said.
According to a survey conducted by the Organization for Urban-Rural Interchange Revitalization in Tokyo, there were about 4,700 unmanned farm stands that sell vegetables across Japan as of six years ago.
Many of the managers reportedly complain that they make only 80 percent to 90 percent of what they should. However, some of them consider it cheaper than having to hire and pay someone to manage the stalls.
To combat the problem, Toshio Asakawa, a 65-year-old farmer in Asaka, Saitama Prefecture, introduced four vending machines to sell his vegetables.
“Before the introduction of the machines, more than half of my vegetables were stolen every day,” Asakawa said.
He had to spend 3 million yen on the machines, but it seems to have paid off as his sales have increased by 50 percent, he said.
There are also cheaper theft-prevention methods. A search of Japanese blogs found a post of some pics showing an unmanned vegetable shop that appears to rely on a mirror to strike guilt into the hearts of would-be thieves.
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I didn’t know about those stands. surprised that they make money at all that way, but then again, it’s Japan.
In other countries the whole stand would be stolen the minute the farmers leaves it.
A shame really.
Totally agree. It’s real pathetic we need some sort of moderator to prevent people from stealing vegetables….
Only in an ideal world
I used to see these stands in my neighborhoods in Japan. They sold veggies and pickles. I probably bought daikon there once or twice.
There are also a couple unmanned vegetable stands in my town now (in the US.) I don’t find the idea that odd, nor particularly Japanese. It’s just rural.
Things must be tough out in the burbs having to steal like that.
This is a different generation. In society many people in this generation don’t think stealing is a crime.
Good to see some people still have faith in humanity, as you can tell from my blog, I don’t.
Oddly absent in my town (maybe they all go to the factories as our produce is our meibutsu).
Only take in 80-90% of the amount they should? Even after leaving it unmanned for hours while they watch TV, go to the doctor, or go play gateball?
Sounds like a good business to me. Much better than the Nokyo which pays a small fraction of the actual selling price.
two comments, from being from a rural area in the States, and a semi-rural area here in Japan.
1) In the US, in rural areas, it is quite common to put extra produce out front with a “pay what it’s worth” box. My experience has been that little if anything is stolen, although they are rarely big stands, more like a basket of corn and tomatoes.
2) Rural Japan – not the same as the markets, but a huge problem with people from the new developments driving by, stopping their cars and just “harvesting” what they want from the persimmon trees, etc. Non-rural folks new to the area seem to not be able to distinguish “wild fruit” from the tree in our back yard.
It doesn’t feel to me like they think it’s stealing, they just don’t seem to understand that those mushrooms, persimmons, strawberries, etc. are on our farmland.
But I wonder if I’m wrong, and they DO understand perfectly well?