Author Archives: The Japan Agricultural News

【News】 Here comes red big talisman! (Nov. 16, 2014)

Kotaro Yamada – Ushi-oni (Shimanto-shi, Kochi Prefecture)  – Every year in early November, a float of a red big Ushi-oni bull-faced demon figure goes around in the Tosa area in Shimanto-shi, Kochi Prefecture. The parade is part of the Hage Tenmangu Shrine’s Autumn Festival. The unique talisman figure walks through the village, making a procession down the Chinkabashi bridge, with local villagers walking along, and acting up in the shrine, all in order to thank God after the yearly harvest in rather a dynamic way. Hage, a home of the Hage Tenmangu Shrine, is a village located alongside the Shimanto River. Approximately 60 families living in the village all join … Continue reading

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【News】 Hot pots with piece of cake on top? (Nov. 16, 2014)

Hiromi Chiba Hot pots with savory pieces of cakes and cute animals on top. This is becoming a new trend among Japanese families who want to add a new twist to the Japanese traditional winter dish. Don’t worry. The figures are actually made of grated Japanese radish in a way they call “daikon oroshi art (grated Japanese radish art)”. Kazuyo Yamazaki, 35, is also the one who learnt about the daikon oroshi art on the Internet and introduced it to her family. First, she prepares usual hot pot ingredients in the pot. Then she creates some kid-friendly figures such as pieces of cakes and animals using grated daikon. She also … Continue reading

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【Editorial】 Central and prefectural unions’ auditing indispensable for sound management of primary JAs (Nov. 14, 2014)

  Among discussions made on agricultural co-ops reform, many opinions based on lack of understanding or misunderstandings are recently seen regarding the role of auditing by central and prefectural unions. In order to secure soundness of primary JAs’ management, it is indispensable to conduct financial and operational audits as a package under the Agricultural Co-operative Society Law. It is totally off the mark for the government’s Regulatory Reform Council to say no legal grounds are necessary to authorize the unions’ auditing. We believe an auditing system focusing on the special features of co-operatives is the very thing that contributes to an increase in farmers’ income. In reforming agricultural co-ops, the … Continue reading

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【News】 Government panel denies legally authorizing agricultural co-op unions (Nov. 13, 2014)

  The government’s Regulatory Reform Council issued an opinion on Japanese agricultural co-operative group’s self-reform plan on Wednesday, Nov. 12, stating that provisions on the JA group’s central and prefectural unions should be deleted from the Agricultural Co-operative Society Law and the unions should become general incorporated associations. The council clearly stated that no legal grounds will be necessary for the unions after the reform takes place, when they inherit the existing unions’ consulting and auditing functions. Members of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party who are close to the agricultural industry are strongly opposed to the council’s opinion which goes far beyond the reform plan compiled by the government and … Continue reading

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【News】 Japan’s agriculture likely to be the only loser in TPP: U.S. Department of Agriculture report (Nov. 13, 2014)

  Senior Staff Writer, Masaru Yamada – Washington D.C. The United States’ agriculture will benefit the most from the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade agreement, while 70 percent of agricultural exports boosted by the pact will be shipped to Japan, leading to an influx of imports, according to a recent report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The report, compiled by a group of experts in the department’s Economic Research Service, predicts changes in agricultural trade of the TPP’s 12 member nations. It compares a “baseline scenario” – simulation of projections between 2014 and 2025 under trade agreements and tariff reforms already committed to in the region – with a hypothetical TPP … Continue reading

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