Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2012 October 24 - 30 [WELFARE]

Kanagawa JCP protests against local gov’t plan to close public ranch

Japanese Communist Party Kanagawa prefectural committee and local members on October 27 carried out a signature drive calling for continuation of a public ranch which is planned to be shut down as a part of the prefecture’s austerity plan.

Kanagawa, a neighboring prefecture of Tokyo, produced more than 60,000 tons of raw milk in 2008. The amount is equivalent to 1.7 million people’s yearly consumption of milk.

The Kanagawa-owned Onoyama Ranch (Yamakita Town) is a facility for calf rearing services. The ranch temporarily keeps calves for farmers whose pastures are not big enough to raise them. When the cows get pregnant, the ranch returns them to the owners. There are around 80 calves grazing in the pasture. Visitors can enjoy engaging in farm work, making butter, and feeding calves.

The prefectural government, which is seeking to forcibly cut subsidies or to close all the public facilities within the prefecture, recently announced that it is considering the closing of the ranch.

In front of the nearest station to the ranch, the JCP members called for signatures from people heading for the ranch’s annual festival held on the day. A 42-year-old man said, “The ranch is too valuable to the public to be thrown away. There is no other place around here where you can see calves and cows. I want it to continue.”

Related past article: >Kanagawa residents protest against closure of public facilities June 22, 2012