No paddock land stood out from the massive sprawling metropolis.

One of the most stunning views of New Zealand's major city (seen as over urbanised and fast paced by most rural dwellers), Auckland, is from the top of Cornwall Park in Greenlane, you have to drive past hundreds of sheep to get to the top of this inner-city lookout.

Auckland seemed an agricultural Mecca in comparison to Hokkaido.

But credit where credit's due and I must say the Japanese are much better at crowds than us. I found walking around central Tokyo a breeze compared with manoeuvring the masses at National Fieldays.

What Japan lacks in sheep and cows it makes up for with population and market potential.

Yet one of the difficulties with this populous is uniformity of culture.

If the Japanese like your product, you may have to supply 127 million people with it.

Trends, fads and certain groups’ lifestyle choices can dramatically alter demand. A shift of 2.5 per cent of Japanese consumer demand is equal to New Zealand's entire population changing their habits.

One reason rice farmers are struggling is because people have started to skip breakfast - which is usually rice.

A television campaign advertising the banana diet (lose weight: eat a banana in the morning) bumped up price, and demand was out of control, for the entirely imported yellow fruit. At the New Zealand Embassy, Roy Larke, editor of Japan Consuming magazine and professor of international marketing and Japanese business at Rikkyo University, said the assumption of homogeneity was so extreme the Japanese believed they all had similar dreams and tastes, they all love fish, only have baths and only eat Japanese rice.

Mr Larke said this was obviously not true. Yet it is entrenched in the cultural mindset. What Japanese do and don't do is always the same.