What is FamLab8
POINT!
Make the world more interesting with Agriculture !
FamLab8 is a collaborative organization of young farmers based in Yatsushiro City, Kumamoto Prefecture. In response to the structural challenges facing Japanese agriculture—such as a shortage of successors, rising input costs, and stagnant market prices—we test and develop solutions through locally driven demonstration projects and business implementation.
The name is a coined term combining “Farmer,” “Laboratory,” and Yatsushiro—the group’s base of operations—represented by the number 8, reflecting an experimental spirit unconstrained by convention.
Its members are a diverse group of young farmers engaged in a wide range of activities: cultivating rice, potatoes, strawberries, asparagus, feed crops, and Yatsushiro’s specialty igusa (rush grass) used as the raw material for tatami; growing banpeiyu (the world’s largest citrus), as well as domestically grown bananas; and selling products through channels such as food trucks and e-commerce sites. By bringing together different crops and perspectives, FamLab8 aims to highlight the many facets of agriculture and use its appeal to help the region shine.
Our Journey
-Background & History-
FamLab8 was born out of a process of identifying local challenges and repeatedly conducting small-scale pilot projects. Below is a summary of the key milestones leading up to its establishment.
Origin: Clarifying Key Issues Through Discussions on Smart Agriculture
- Starting point (September 2022): Through the “Yatsushiro City Smart Agriculture Demonstration Project,” young local farmers came together to discuss their vision for the future.
- As a result, they redefined the core issues as structural challenges that cannot be solved by introducing smart farming machinery alone (lack of successors, rising input costs, and stagnant sales prices).
- As a response strategy, they established three “pillars of activity”: [Enhancing Appeal] [Labor-Saving] [Circularization].
Milestones
2023
2023
2024
2024
2025
2025
Pillars of Activities
POINT!
The Core of What We Do to Shape the Future
FamLab8’s activities are built around three core pillars. These serve as a strategic framework for realizing our vision: “Making the world more exciting through agriculture!”
Enhancing Appeal, Labor-Saving, and Circularization—these three approaches work in synergy to shape the future of agriculture and our community.
1
Pillar
Enhancing Appeal
Creating New Value in Agriculture
An initiative to draw out the full, multifaceted potential of agriculture and reframe it into something attractive and valuable—not only for farmers, but for everyone from children to adults.
- NOU HAKU
-
A Special Journey Behind the Table
Have you ever wondered what kind of care, passion, and know-how go into the vegetables and fruits you eat every day? By meeting the growers, touching the soil, and sharing a meal together, you’ll experience a deeper meaning behind your “Itadakimasu.”
- Agri-Sports
-
Turning Farmers’ Skills into Excitement Through “Agriculture” × “Sports”
This is a new-style agricultural experience that elevates the “craftsmanship” farmers refine every day into a sports competition that anyone can watch, try, and enjoy.
- Local Performing Arts
Rebranding -
Connecting Local Heritage to the Future
By shining new light on cultural heritage that lies dormant in the region—such as reviving the reclaimed-land work song “Ozaya Meisho”—we preserve and pass its value on to the next generation.
- Cruise Ship Tours /
Educational Trips -
Sharing Yatsushiro’s Treasures with the World
Through Yatsushiro’s proud tatami culture—such as visiting igusa (rush grass) fields and hands-on activities like making mini tatami mats or shimenawa ropes—we share the deep appeal of agriculture and culture with visitors from Japan and abroad.
These initiatives are only possible thanks to our “labor-saving” efforts, which create time through the use of technology.
2
Pillar
Labor-Saving
Opening the Future of Agriculture Through Technology
This isn’t simply about improving operational efficiency. By actively leveraging digital tools, we aim to free farmers from administrative tasks and create an environment where they can spend more time on creative, value-generating work.
- Generative AI Training
-
Building the Ability to Navigate Change
By using AI to streamline administrative work, we help develop digitally skilled farmers who can adapt to change.
- A Farmers’ Knowledge Hub Website
-
Solving Challenges Through Collective Wisdom
We are building a website to gather and share valuable agricultural information, aiming to raise the community’s overall knowledge level and productivity.
- Farmers’
Community Salon -
Connections Spark New Collaboration
We will create both online and offline spaces where farmers and people from inside and outside the region can connect casually—sparking information exchange and new collaborative projects.
We will establish both online and offline spaces where farmers and people from within and outside the region can connect easily—encouraging information exchange and fostering new collaborations.
3
Pillar
Circularization
Toward Sustainable Agriculture and Communities
By making effective use of underutilized local resources, we create new value while reducing environmental impact—working toward a more sustainable agriculture and society.
- Yatsushiro Recycling Loop
-
Food Waste into Treasure
We turn food waste into compost and aim to build a model for a circular local community, while increasing income through the branding of high-quality agricultural products.
- Using Locally Produced Compost
-
Nurturing the Soil, Nurturing the Future
By using compost made from underutilized local resources, we improve soil fertility and practice environmentally friendly farming that reduces reliance on chemical fertilizers.
- Efforts Toward Carbon Neutrality
-
Turning Our Initiatives into Environmental Contribution
Composting food waste not only helps reduce food loss, but also decreases incineration and CO₂ emissions, contributing to the creation of a richer and more sustainable environment.
Revenue generated through this “circularization” work—such as J-Credits—will support all of our initiatives and serve as an economic foundation that enables us to take on even more ambitious challenges.
These three pillars—Enhancing Appeal, Labor-Saving, and Circularization—are not independent initiatives; they are organically interconnected. Through this three-in-one approach, we will continue taking on new challenges as we pursue our bigger goal: “Making the world more exciting through agriculture!”