Farmers in Hokkaido hit hard by quake, struggling to recover

HOKKAIDO, Sept. 8 – An earthquake which rocked Hokkaido, logging the maximum 7 on Japan’s seismic intensity scale in the town of Atsuma, triggered massive landslides that engulfed houses, roads and farming facilities. Farmers and agricultural cooperative officials, while being shocked by the damages, are trying to clean up the places to resume operation. A 71-year-old rice farmer, who cultivates Nanatsuboshi and Yumepirika brand rice on a 9-hectare field, had his storehouse destroyed and pushed into the street by a mudslide. Everything in the storehouse, including a mini vehicle he bought last year, a large rice-planting machine and a sowing machine, toppled over. “I couldn’t believe my eyes when I … Continue reading

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Typhoon Jebi brought widespread devastating damages on agriculture

HYOGO, Sep. 6 – Damages on agriculture became clearer on September 5, 2018, a day after Typhoon Jebi passed over the Kansai region of Japan.  The powerful storm brought widespread damages as its extremely high winds knocked down greenhouses, slammed apples, grapes and many other fruits to the ground, and badly damaged fruit vegetables such as eggplants. Due to the blackout, cattle farmers are still having difficulties. It will take longer to get a full picture of the damages. Jebi landed the city of Kobe in Hyogo Prefecture. At Kande Tourist Grape Farm, the typhoon tore down vinyl coverings and flung some grapes on the ground in 60 to 70 percent … Continue reading

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[Our Noh no Ikebana] “Feel the passing of summer,” says Katsuko Yoshimura, 73, from Gokase, Miyazaki Prefecture

“Since I began Noh no Ikebana, I come to take a closer look at small changes in agricultural products. Now I know that vegetables have such beautiful flowers, fruits change colors day by day and sprouting onions are so cute. The best part of Noh no Ikebana is how we can arrange the materials freely without any restrictions. Our Noh no Ikebana group was established in 1998. Now we have eight members. To make our arrangements even more attractive to the audience, we sometimes ask some of the members who have experience in traditional-style ikebana for some advice. The theme today is early autumn. What you see in the background … Continue reading

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Powerful M6.7 quake jolts Hokkaido, causing damage to infrastructure and agriculture

HOKKAIDO, Sept. 7 – A magnitude 6.7 earthquake, which registered up to 7 on the 7-point Japanese seismic intensity scale, hit the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido on Sept. 6 at 3:07 a.m. The earthquake, with its epicenter in the Iburi region in southwestern Hokkaido, triggered massive landslides and damaged houses. The death toll rose to 35 (updated as of 8 p.m. Sept. 8), out of which 31 were confirmed at the worst-hit mountainous town of Atsuma,  and one each in Mukawa, Shinhidaka, Tomakomai and the prefectural capital of Sapporo, according to the Hokkaido Prefectural Government. Some 2.95 million households throughout the prefecture was temporarily left without power, as all thermal … Continue reading

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Brazil lifts restrictions on Fukushima food after nuclear disaster

TOKYO, Aug. 23 ― Brazil has lifted import restrictions on foods from Fukushima prefecture, which were placed in after the 2011 earthquake and nuclear disaster in Fukushima. Brazil was the last Latin American country that lifted the restrictions on food products from Fukushima. The move comes after the World Trade Organization (WTO) in March backed a Japanese complaint against South Korea’s import ban on seafood as well as additional testing requirements on agricultural foods. In the wake of the disaster in 2011, like South Korea and other countries, Brazil imposed restrictions on food imports from Fukushima and 11 prefectures: Gunma, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Miyagi, Yamagata, Niigata, Nagano, Yamanashi, Saitama, Chiba and … Continue reading

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