Marvelous, the developer of the famous farm life RPG series “Story of Seasons”, revealed that it recently received a request from the “Dotō Asahi Agricultural Association” (Dotō Asahi Agricultural Association) in Bekkai Town, Hokkaido.JA Doto Asahi), the reason is that a young man was influenced by this work and devoted himself to dairy farming.
The protagonist of the “Harvest Story” series moves to the countryside by chance. While expanding the pasture to make a living through dairy farming, he interacts with the residents of the town, falls in love and leads to marriage. The first game in the series was released in 1996, and the latest “Hard Farm Story Welcome!” “Life is Beautiful” will be released on Nintendo Switch and PS5 in June this year.
Harvest Moon series director Mei Nakanoin articleIt said that it received news from the Asahi Agricultural Cooperative of Dotō that a young man was inspired by the game to join dairy farming. The Agricultural Cooperative therefore thanked the development team for making this game.
Marvelous was honored and surprised to learn about the backup. “This experience is unprecedented for us.” The team also said that it will continue to work hard to develop more games in the future and will continue to support all industry players who have played “Harvest Moon”. “I am happy to make a small contribution to the development and popularization of dairy farming.”
【notice】
We recently received a letter of appreciation for the “Harvest Moon” series from the “Doto Asahi Agricultural Cooperative Association” in Betsukai Town, Hokkaido.
We heard that some people started working as dairy farmers after playing this game, and we posted their happy comments on our official blog.https://t.co/bsa1wtcvSQ#Harvest Moon— “Harvest Moon” official account (@bokumono_PR) October 10, 2023
And in Dodong Asahi Agricultural CooperativeCommunity magazine issued in May this yearThe cover story “I became a dairy farmer because of a game?” tells the story of the real version of “Harvest Story” protagonist and Wada Ranch owner Wada Yuhei. This 28-year-old young man born in Shimane Prefecture has determined to run a ranch “with real cows” after playing “Harvest Story” as a child.
His childhood wish became stronger and stronger as he grew up. Mr. Wada entered university with the mentality of an “agricultural researcher.” After graduation, the “New Farmers Expo” (New Farmer Expo) was held in Sapporo, and he went to Asahi, Toto. Recruited by the Agricultural Cooperative, Wada came to Hokkaido to work as a farmer in Dobiekai Town. After three years of training, he became the new owner of the ranch through “third-party inheritance.”
The aging of Japanese society has resulted in a serious shortage of labor in the primary industry. Perhaps the immersive experience of the game can stimulate the interest of young people, bring new blood to the industry and contribute to society.
