NARITA, Chiba -- On a sunny day in late November last year, a man in blue workwear pushed a seeder across a field on the outskirts of this city east of Tokyo. That man was Osman Dursun, a 34-year-old Kurd.

"These are wheat seeds. I harvested them from this field in June. By planting 30 kilograms, I can grow 800 kilograms to a (metric) ton of wheat. Amazing, right?" he said with pride. Now in his third season of sowing wheat, what started as a side project alongside his demolition business has grown into a meaningful endeavor -- one that is helping him build new relationships through farming.

Fleeing Turkey, finding a new life in Japan

Dursun was born and raised in Izmir, a port city in western Turkey along the Aegean Sea, where he worked as a shoemaker. However, as a member of the Kurdish minority, he faced persecution under Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan's administration. His involvement in protests against the government left him fearing for his safety. "I felt like I could be arrested at any moment," he recalls.

In January 2015, he fled to Japan, seeking help from acquaintances who had already settled there. He found work tearing down houses in Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture. Though his tourist visa expired after three months, leaving him undocumented, he later gained legal residency after marrying a Japanese woman. Today, Dursun runs his own demolition business in Sakura, Chiba Prefecture.

Wheat as a symbol of gratitude

In the fall of 2022, Dursun rented a 5,000-square-meter field and began growing wheat. After harvesting and milling the wheat into flour, he distributes it for free to around 20 Kurdish families in Kawaguchi.

The families share the flour with their relatives and friends to bake bread, a Turkish staple. The next harvest is planned for June.

"When I first arrived in Kawaguchi, people helped me find work and a place to stay. Someone who spoke Japanese even accompanied me to city hall to handle the paperwork. Without their help, I would have been lost. This is my way of saying, 'Thank you,'" Dursun explained.

However, many of the Kurdish people he helps remain in precarious situations. Most have had their refugee applications denied and are on "provisional release" from immigration detention centers. This means they lack legal residency and cannot work, and require permission from immigration authorities to travel across prefectural borders.

A farmer's generosity

The field Dursun uses was offered rent-free by Tsuneji Ishii, a 76-year-old farmer in Narita. Ishii himself has a unique history. Fifty-nine years ago, his land was suddenly designated as "airport property" by a Cabinet decision regarding the construction of Narita International Airport. He joined the protests against the project, even getting arrested for his activism. He later left the movement and sold his land to Narita International Airport Corp. a decade ago.

Through a mutual Japanese acquaintance, Ishii learned that Dursun was looking for farmland and decided to lend him the field. "I've spent my life thinking about 'What is a state?' and 'What do human relationships mean?' When I heard Kurds were struggling, I wanted to help," Ishii said.

While Ishii helps with farm work, he is firm about not donating his own crops. "(If I just give them food), it won't help them become self-reliant," he explained.

When told about Ishii's past, Dursun was surprised. "I thought he was just a kind man teaching me farming. I had no idea he had been through something like that," he said.

This year marks Dursun's 10th year in Japan. As Kurds have seen a growing trend of hate speech against them in Japan, he worries as a father about the future of his two young children, 2 and 4 years old. "Will they face discrimination as they grow up?" he wonders.

Yet, through wheat farming, Dursun has also forged new connections, and he has one enduring wish: "To live peacefully with Japanese people."

(Japanese original by Taketo Hayakawa, Tokyo City News Department)