Author Archives: The Japan Agricultural News

【News】 Fashion college students suggest mod way to solve deer problem in Hokkaido (Feb. 22, 2015)

Hokkaido Bunka Fashion College in Sapporo, Hokkaido, presented its new line of clothes made of nothing else but Yezo deer leather at a fashion show it held on February 21, 2015, in Sapporo, Hokkaido. It was the first time for the college to make clothes only out of Yezo deer leather. The collection was composed of five different clothes created by five third-year students who spent five months to complete the mission. The idea of using the deer leather for clothing came out as the wild deer actually are causing over JPY6 billion of damages to agriculture and forestry annually in Hokkaido. In September 2014, the school launched “Hokkaido Project” … Continue reading

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【News】 Gottsuo Treasure Box Train goes full of seasonal Akita cuisine (Feb. 15, 2015)

  Tetsuya Onda – Akita Nairiku Jukan Railway (Akita Prefecture)  – A very special train trip on Gottsuo Treasure Box Train is now one of the must-do things in Akita Prefecture in winter. It’s a limited service provided by the Akita Nairiku Jukan Railway (Akita Inland Longitudinal Railway) that offers a very unique experience of enjoying seasonal Akita cuisine, cooked by mothers from local towns, on the train. The feast are prepared by members of a local farmers group called Green Tourism Nishiki Association, each one serving a personal specialty to eventually offer a multi-course meal on the train. Gottsuo (pronounced as “Gozzo”) is a local dialect for a word … Continue reading

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【News】 Agricultural co-op group OKs major reform plan (Feb. 10, 2015)

  The government and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party reached basic agreement with the Central Union of Agricultural Co-operatives (JA-Zenchu), the nation’s main agricultural lobby, on Monday, Feb. 9, on the first major reform of the organization in more than 60 years, including taking away its legal authority to audit its member co-ops. The government’s proposed plan means a big turning point for JA-Zenchu, as its audit division, which has been conducting audits on primary JAs, will be separated from the organization. It will also give up its legally privileged status to become a general incorporated association by the end of March 2019. The government is expected to submit a … Continue reading

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【Editor’s column】 Gaining farmers’ support essential for agricultural co-ops reform (Feb. 10, 2015)

  Editor in Chief, Kazushiro Tamiya The government, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the Central Union of Agricultural Co-operatives (JA-Zenchu) have reached basic agreement on reforming agricultural co-ops. During last-minute talks, LDP lawmakers with close ties to the farm sector barely managed to push back some of the radical proposals made by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Office and the government’s Regulatory Reform Council. However, it is true that the overall debate on agricultural co-ops reform, which focused mainly on fiddling around the edges of restructuring JA-Zenchu, has made farmers feel doubtful and leery about for whom and for what the reform will be conducted. We are not convinced by … Continue reading

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【News】 Glowing silk yarns showcased at Hikari Exhibition (Feb. 7, 2015)

Kotaro Yamada Hundreds of radiant cocoons and shining silken stoles and lamp shades. You’ll see them all in Ueno, Tokyo, at the National Museum of Nature and Science, in the darkness at its special exhibition “Hikari–The Wonder of Light”. The shining products are presented by the National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences (NIAS) based in Tsukuba-shi, Ibaraki Prefecture. The cocoons and silk yarns were produced by silkworms that NIAS genetically engineered. It successfully inserted a certain fluorescence protein gene extracted from a coral and a jelly fish in silkworms to give them the ability to spin silk yarns that can emit light. The glowing cocoons emit red, orange or green light … Continue reading

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