A Japanese farmer named Otchan has 1,200 pet pigs and he loves and bonds with all of them each in a different way. He plays with some, naps with some, kisses some and even sings to some. Photographer Toshiteru Yamaji captured all of the playful interactions and released a photo book called 'Pigs and Papa.'
The friendships are truly heartwarming, but they are said to provoke mixed feelings because in the end, it is still a farm and the pigs are meant to produce food. However, Otachan treats the animals with respect unlike a lot of mass-production farms. The photographer has continuously photographed this farmer and his pigs over the past years and hopes to promote family farms and give viewers a sense of the bond farmers have with their animals.
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