This place used to be totally rural when my family moved in 45 years (!) ago. Later, as in all other places it changed into a residential area without any urban planning. Narrow, winding, muddy paths in vegetable fields were paved to become the only route between my house and the railway station. Tokyo, even in its most prestigious residential quarters, is full of such alleys. Until recently I always carried a compass in my car not to be lost in the jungle of narrow alleys.

Our home is a two-storey house with about 120 square meters. On the first floor my parents live and on the second floor I, my wife and our son live. These two floors have individual front entrance so that two families can live separately. This locality, developed for the middle class, is full of similar houses, but vegetable fields still remain. In ancient times the land generated only meager income for farmers, but today it has become a treasure.

The largest mansions in this region belong to the farmers. In Japan peasants have been enjoying private ownership of the land for hundreds of years. Samurais were stripped of the ownership of the land toward 1580 by the central government, and since then individual farmers have been official holders (and tax-payers) of the land.

When the fields were turned into residential areas, developers paid exorbitant prices for the land. Today the Japanese have gigantic private financial assets in the amount of 17 trillion dollars, and the lion's share belongs to the farmers.

However, they look humble. They work everyday on the fields which are scattered in many places among living areas. They want to do so. Otherwise they will have to find a job as an employee. They have to do so. Unless their lands are used for agriculture, they will have to pay very high property tax.

Many of them have strong voices in city administration (other inhabitants who everyday go to work in the center, are not interested in local politics), especially in decisions how to use lands. They may approve plans to construct new roads near their own houses. Whenever a new road is opened, the land prices nearby skyrocket.